Seismic communication in demon African mole rat Tachyoryctes daemon from Tanzania

Hrouzková, Ema; Dvořáková, Veronika; Jedlička, Petr; Šumbera, Radim

doi:10.1007/s10164-013-0374-0

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…This mode of communication is frequently used between individuals and represents another adaptation to life underground (Kingdon et al 2013;Norris, 2017). This behavior is only described in spalacids and was recently observed in Tachyoryctes (Hrouzková et al 2013(Hrouzková et al , 2018, which however does not present these enlarged occipital and frontal areas. Another explanation might be that these traits, coupled with a peculiar shape of the snout in Spalax, and to a lesser extent in Myospalax, could also enable them to perform important head movements.…”

Section: Digging Abilities Vs Skull Morphology In Spalacids and Bathyergidssupporting

confidence: 49%

Evolution Towards Fossoriality and Morphological Convergence in the Skull of Spalacidae and Bathyergidae (Rodentia)

Fournier¹,

Hautier

Rodrigues³

2021

J Mammal Evol

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Rodents show a wide range of anatomical, physiological, and behavioral adaptations to life underground. Cranial and postcranial bone morphologies are deeply impacted by the modes of digging, which can involve either incisors or claws. However, the morphological variation of these elements still needs to be accurately quantified to assess the degree of specializations of the fossorial rodent families in regards to their respective evolution. Here, we focus on the morpho-functional characteristics of the masticatory apparatus in two families of subterranean rodents, the Spalacidae and Bathyergidae. We quantify the skull shape in five spalacid genera using geometric morphometric methods, as well as biomechanical estimates for adductor muscles, which are compared with data previously published on bathyergids. We show that the skull shape of spalacids has a greater disparity and lower biomechanical estimates than bathyergids, in which the fossorial activity, notably chisel-tooth digging, more significantly impacted the evolution of the skull. Among spalacids, Spalax shows the most extreme specializations to life underground and displays the highest number of morphological convergences with chisel-tooth digging bathyergids, especially regarding its cranial shape and high biomechanical estimate for the temporalis muscle. Fewer morphological convergences were observed between other spalacids and bathyergids. Different evolutionary histories can potentially explain discrepancies observed between the two families, the first bathyergid morphological adaptations to fossorial life being much older than those of spalacids.

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Section: Digging Abilities Vs Skull Morphology In Spalacids and Bathyergidssupporting

confidence: 49%

Evolution Towards Fossoriality and Morphological Convergence in the Skull of Spalacidae and Bathyergidae (Rodentia)

Fournier¹,

Hautier

Rodrigues³

2021

J Mammal Evol

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“…Individuals advertise their sex and presence by tapping their head on the burrow ceiling (Hrouzkova et al 2013), indeed this sesimic communication may be advantageous for breaking down the strict xenophobia that arises in this species. When pairing up the root rats, the first few days were characterised by agonistic behaviours and vocalisation, it is possible that the lack of seismic communication did not enable the break down in xenophobia (Katandukila pers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern of ovulation in the East African root rat (Tachyoryctes splendens) from Tanzania: induced or spontaneous ovulator?

Katandukila

Bennett

2016

Can. J. Zool.

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The East African root rat, Tachyoryctes splendens is a solitary dwelling subterranean rodent that exhibits a marked seasonal reproduction linked to the bimodal rainfall pattern of East Africa. The current study set out to determine whether the East African root rat is an induced or spontaneous ovulator. Five wild caught adult females were monitored non-invasively for ovarian cyclicity by measuring urinary progesterone every two days over a period of 120 days. Females were subjected to three different experimental treatments namely, initially singly housed/Control (C), Non-Physical Contact with a male (NPC) and Physical Contact with a vasectomised male (PC), respectively. The concentration of urinary progesterone was higher during PC than during either NPC or C. The act of coitus appears to be necessary for ovulation to occur 2 in the females, despite the fact that the males were vasectomised and incapable of fertilising the females.The male root rats were found to possess epidermal spines on the penis which can be used to remove copulatory plugs as well as bring about cervical stimulation during coitus. The spines result in the induction of ovulation as has been proposed for other solitary subterranean rodents. The findings from the female progesterone profiles and the assessment of penile morphology suggest that the female root rat is an induced ovulator stimulated by penile intromission during coitus.

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“…The greater fractal dimension of the burrows of female T. splendens is noteworthy since in other solitary mole-rats such as B. suillus (Thomas et al, 2009) and Bathyergus janetta (Herbst & Bennett, 2006), and solitary subterranean rodents Thomomys bottae (Reichman, Whitham & Ruffner, 1982) and Ctenomys minutus (Gastal, 1994), it is the male burrows that have greater complexity, which may reflect mate searching strategies. A recent study has shown that in T. splendens, seismic signalling using head raps against the tunnel roof may be used to communicate for purposes such as mate attraction (Hrouzkova et al, 2013). Such a mechanism, coupled with close proximity of male and female burrows, may mitigate against mate searching by burrowing alone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sweeping the house clean: burrow architecture and seasonal digging activity in theEastAfrican root rat fromTanzania

et al. 2014

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We investigated changes in burrow architecture and fractal dimension across seasons and between the sexes in the solitary East African root rat Tachyoryctes splendens over an entire calendar year. The basic burrow system comprised a main tunnel reticulating into foraging tunnels, a nest consisting of food store chamber, latrine and sleeping area, and a bolt hole. Main tunnel length was strongly affected by sex, and contrary to expectations, it was longer for females than for males (during both the dry and the wet seasons). The number and the length of foraging tunnels were affected by both sex and season, with females' burrows having more foraging tunnels than males in both the dry and the wet seasons. Females also had burrows with higher fractal dimension than males, while fractal dimension increased with burrow length for both sexes. We suggest that unlike the solitary bathyergid mole‐rats, male T. splendens do not construct larger burrows than females in the search for mates, but rather females have larger burrows with more foraging tunnels resulting from the increased need for provisioning of their young.

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Seismic communication in demon African mole rat Tachyoryctes daemon from Tanzania

Cited by 12 publications

References 22 publications

Evolution Towards Fossoriality and Morphological Convergence in the Skull of Spalacidae and Bathyergidae (Rodentia)

Evolution Towards Fossoriality and Morphological Convergence in the Skull of Spalacidae and Bathyergidae (Rodentia)

Pattern of ovulation in the East African root rat (Tachyoryctes splendens) from Tanzania: induced or spontaneous ovulator?

Sweeping the house clean: burrow architecture and seasonal digging activity in theEastAfrican root rat fromTanzania

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