Brain Size of the African Grasscutter (Thryonomys Swinderianus, Temminck, 1827) at Defined Postnatal Periods

Ibe, C. S.; Salami, S. O.; Wanmi, N.

doi:10.1515/fv-2017-0031

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The increasing rate of publications on the GCR, particularly the spurt in the last ten years (2009‐2019), attests to a recent rise in research activity on this rodent. This is traceable to the current drive by African scientists to identify indigenous animals suitable for domestication and use as spontaneous research models, especially within the African context . The publication spurt also highlights an increase in awareness and exploitation of this rodent for economic purposes – the GCR is regarded as providing premium, choice meat, particularly in West Africa, where they command high prices leading to huge economic returns .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…With a broad head, round muzzle, small round ears and a short tail, these hystricomorphic rodents are heavily built, reaching up to about 9 kg . Unsurprisingly therefore, they are reputed to be the fourth largest extant rodent and the second largest African rodent after the African porcupine, Hystrix africaeaustralis . Their large carcass yield and the high nutritional value of their meat make them a premium alternative source of protein, especially in sub‐Saharan Africa, where they command high prices leading to huge economic returns .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A study of scientific publications on the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck 1827)

Mustapha

Teriba

Ezekiel

et al. 2020

Anim Models and Exp Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The greater cane rat (GCR), reputed to be African's second largest rodent, is a precocial hystricomorph with an uncommon phenotype and life history. Scientific and socio-economic interests in the GCR have led to heightened research efforts targeted towards a better understanding of its biology and exploration of its economic and translational usefulness.Methods: Records of all online scientific publications on the GCR from Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, science.gov, Ebscohost and Worldwide science, with the exception of research theses, proceedings, unpublished projects and abstracts, were collated and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results:A total of 146 published scholarly articles spanning about six decades were retrieved, with 98% of the GCR publications originating from African countries. Nigeria boasts the highest number of publications (58.22%) followed by Ghana (21.23%) and South Africa (5.48%) while Senegal contributed the least (0.69%).Publications were sorted into ten field categories. The field with the highest number of articles (41.78%) was animal breeding and management recording, closely followed by anatomy (37.67%). Lesser contributions were made by parasitology (5.48%), biochemistry/hematology (4.8%), pharmacology/toxicology (4.11%), pathology (2.06%), and surgery/anesthesia and physiology (1.37% apiece). The fields with fewest contributions were microbiology and developmental biology (0.69% each). Conclusion:This study chronicles the spectrum of knowledge available on the GCR, highlighting the knowledge gap that still exists in various fields in order to provide advocacy for new frontiers in research efforts on this rodent. We suggest the need for a clearly defined and well integrated national/regional policy aimed at establishing Africa's foremost micro-livestock rodent, the greater cane rat, on the world's scientific radar. K E Y W O R D SAfrican rodent, grasscutter, greater cane rat, micro-livestock, review, wildlife | 41 MUSTAPHA eT Al.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study of scientific publications on the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck 1827)

Mustapha

Teriba

Ezekiel

et al. 2020

Anim Models and Exp Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Subsequently, the pregnant does were anaesthetized with intra-peritoneal injections of ketamine (100 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg) in order to explant their embryos and fetuses. This was done by caesarean section in accordance with procedure described by Ibe [9]. Briefly, a 3-cm caudal midline laparotomy incision was done, and the mesentery and colon were displaced to expose the uterus.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The forces of demand and supply have led to environmental challenges such as air pollution and damage to the ecosystem owing to the aggressive hunting practices including bush burning in order to compensate for the non-steady supply of their meats to willing buyers [5, 8]. These economic pressures may have encouraged the recent drive for the domestication and intensive farming of this rodent with the intention of ensuring regular supply and sustainable animal protein [5, 9]. Furthermore, this indigenous African rodent possesses uncommon phenotypes and life histories that has attracted and fanned the curiosity of African scientists [10, 11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological Characterization of the Developing Greater Cane Rat (<b><i>Thryonomys swinderianus</i></b>) Brain

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Developmental mode along the altricial-precocial spectrum is well known to be influenced by brain development and maturation. The greater cane rat (GCR) is an indigenous precocial African rodent with uncommon phenotypes and life traits. This study was therefore designed to characterize and describe distinctive external developmental features in the prenatal GCR brain across the entire gestational length using the emergence and differentiation of external features of the brain vesicles. Four gross morphometric brain parameters (weight, length, width, and height) were evaluated and expressed as mean ± SEM. Relationship between all brain morphometrics and gestation length were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and linear regression. Developmental milestones in the prenatal GCR were then compared with closely related precocial mammals. The earliest time point with gross observable features in the prenatal GCR brain was at gestation day (GD) 60. The period with the most remarkable gross developmental features was noted between GD80 and GD100. Some of these gross features include differentiation of the cerebellar plate into vermis and lateral lobes, emergence of the piriform lobes, mammillary bodies, colliculi bodies, cerebral peduncles, and primordial pons. By GD130, most gross topographic neural features were already established. Cerebellar lobation and patterning at GD130 were the last recognizable gross developmental features noticed in the prenatal GCR brain. This coincided with the time of first eye opening in the GCR fetus. The developmental pattern observed in the prenatal GCR brain is similar to those noted in precocial rodent like the guinea pig. However, the onset of these milestones was delayed, and their duration was relatively shorter in the GCR. This study provides a frame of baseline reference of morphological brain features in the GCR embryos and fetuses that will be useful for fetal age estimation, for home grown neurodevelopmental and eco-toxicological studies, as this rodent is being proposed as a research model.

show abstract

“…It was first proposed as a useful parameter based on the observation that some animals, humans foremost, seem to have larger brains than expected for their body size (Jerison, 1977). Cognitive ability has been recorded in some rodents such as mouse, hamster, rat, guinea pig, agouti, and capybara (Herculano-Houzel et al, 2006), African giant pouched rat (Byanet & Dzenda, 2014) and African grasscutter (Ibe et al, 2017). However, in most of the above mentioned animals, the study involved demonstration of the cognitive ability of the adult.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anatomical Demonstration of the Cognitive Ability of the Juvenile African Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys gambianus – Waterhouse, 1840)

2021

JoSVAS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cognitive ability in animals is determined using indices such as Encephalisation Quotient (EQ), relative brain weight, glial quotient and neuronal index. In this study, the cognitive ability of the juvenile African giant pouched rat was determined using the EQ and relative brain weight. Brain samples were routinely extracted from thirty-two juvenile (16 males and 16 females, respectively) rats and fixed in freshly prepared 10% buffered formalin. The nose-rump length, tail length absolute and relative brain weights were determined according to standard technique while the EQ was computed using the Martin’s formula. Structural observations revealed a diamond shaped lissencephalic cerebral cortex with the caudal colliculi exposed from the dorsal transverse fissure of the intact brain. An EQ of 0.75 was deduced for the juvenile African giant pouched rat from the study. Sexual dimorphic analysis revealed mean relative brain weight of 6.64 ± 0.30 and 6.90 ± 0.22 and mean EQ of 0.71 ± 0.06 and 0.78 ± 0.02, for the male and female juveniles respectively. The mean differences between the males and females were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). However, there was a significant negative correlation between nose-rump length and EQ (R2 = 0.66; p < 0.05), nose-rump length and relative brain length (r2 = 0.49; p < 0.05) as well as nose-rump length and relative weight of cerebrum (R2 = 0.61; p < 0.05). The results were compared with that of other age groups of the same rodent and other juvenile rodents. It was concluded that the juvenile African giant pouched rat may be a better choice for memory and cognitive studies than the adult.

show abstract

Brain Size of the African Grasscutter (Thryonomys Swinderianus, Temminck, 1827) at Defined Postnatal Periods

Abstract: ABSTRACT

Cited by 9 publications

References 19 publications

A study of scientific publications on the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck 1827)

A study of scientific publications on the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck 1827)

Morphological Characterization of the Developing Greater Cane Rat (<b><i>Thryonomys swinderianus</i></b>) Brain

Anatomical Demonstration of the Cognitive Ability of the Juvenile African Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys gambianus – Waterhouse, 1840)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About