Temperature preferences of African mole-rats (family Bathyergidae)

Begall, Sabine; Berendes, Meike; Schielke, Charlotte K.M.; Henning, Yoshiyuki; Laghanke, Marzena; Scharff, Andreas; Daele, Paul Van; Burda, Hynek

doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2015.08.003

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…muscle work, ventilation regulation, volcanoing, moving to different burrow sections), to maintain homoiothermy. The preference for occupying chambers of 29°C (Begall et al., ) and the preference for digging in temperate, versus hot, soil support this idea. Buffenstein and Yahav () found that if naked mole‐rats are deprived of such behavioural and social opportunities, they are incapable of controlling body temperatures at any ambient temperature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The microenvironment of naked mole‐rat burrows in East Africa

et al. 2017

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Naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) can be extremely long-lived and are resistant to cancer. Hence, they have been proposed as a model organism for delayed ageing. Adaptation to a constant hypoxic and hypercapnic environment has been suggested as reason for their apparent ability to tolerate oxidative stress. Nevertheless, little is known about the natural habitat to which the species evolved. Naked mole-rat burrow environments were assessed in Ethiopia and Kenya. Despite reported thermolability of naked mole-rats, skin temperature upon capture varied (23.7-35.4°C), mostly within the species' thermoneutral zone, demonstrating their ability to maintain homoiothermy even under wide fluctuations of burrow temperature (24.6-48.8°C) and humidity (31.2%-92.8%), which are far greater than previously reported. Burrow temperature regularly alternates during the daytime and night-time, driving convective currents that circulate air in the tunnels. Consequently, concentrations of CO 2 and O 2 in burrows only slightly deviated from surface atmosphere. This contradicts the assumption of constant hypoxia/hypercapnia in subterranean burrows. In addition to diffusion, animal movement and occasional wind-driven ventilation, our data support the temperature-driven convective model of circulation. The naked mole-rat burrow is a relatively normoxic subterranean microenvironment with considerable fluctuations in temperature and humidity. La temp erature des terriers alterne r eguli erement entre le jour et la nuit, entraînant

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The microenvironment of naked mole‐rat burrows in East Africa

et al. 2017

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“…In general, animals appear to be comfortable in this zone, and have been shown to prefer ambient temperatures that overlap with this zone for low intensity activities such as resting and sleeping [41]. Small and medium sized mole-rats have been reported to choose ambient temperatures close to 30°C for resting, while larger mole-rat species preferred slightly cooler ambient temperatures [45]. Reduced activity at higher ambient temperatures may be a mechanism employed to avoid hyperthermia [46] however, temperatures close to the TNZ of animals may simply be energetically less demanding for the animals and high levels of activity are not needed to maintain body temperatures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locomotor Activity and Body Temperature Patterns over a Temperature Gradient in the Highveld Mole-Rat (Cryptomys hottentotus pretoriae)

2017

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African mole-rats are strictly subterranean mammals that live in extensive burrow systems. High humidity levels in the burrows prevent mole-rats from thermoregulating using evaporative cooling. However, the relatively stable environment of the burrows promotes moderate temperatures and small daily temperature fluctuations. Mole-rats therefore display a relatively wide range of thermoregulation abilities. Some species cannot maintain their body temperatures at a constant level, whereas others employ behavioural thermoregulation. Here we test the effect of ambient temperature on locomotor activity and body temperature, and the relationship between the two parameters, in the highveld mole-rat. We exposed mole-rats to a 12L:12D and a DD light cycle at ambient temperatures of 30°C, 25°C and 20°C while locomotor activity and body temperature were measured simultaneously. In addition, we investigated the endogenous rhythms of locomotor activity and body temperature at different ambient temperatures. Mole-rats displayed nocturnal activity at all three ambient temperatures and were most active at 20°C, but least active at 30°C. Body temperature was highest at 30°C and lowest at 20°C, and the daily cycle was highly correlated with locomotor activity. We show that the mole-rats have endogenous rhythms for both locomotor activity and body temperature. However, the endogenous body temperature rhythm appears to be less robust compared to the locomotor activity rhythm. Female mole-rats appear to be more sensitive to temperature changes than males, increased heterothermy is evident at lower ambient temperatures, whilst males show smaller variation in their body temperatures with changing ambient temperatures. Mole-rats may rely more heavily on behavioural thermoregulation as it is more energy efficient in an already challenging environment.

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“…Maintenance was approved by the Veterinary Office of the City of Essen (AZ: 32-2-1180-71/328). Housing conditions have been described elsewhere [ 23 ]. Briefly, mole-rats were kept on animal litter in glass terraria in the animal facilities of the Department of General Zoology at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher resting metabolic rate in long-lived breeding Ansell’s mole-rats (Fukomys anselli)

et al. 2017

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BackgroundReproduction is an energetically expensive process that supposedly impairs somatic integrity in the long term, because resources are limited and have to be allocated between reproduction and somatic maintenance, as predicted by the life history trade-off model. The consequence of reduced investment in somatic maintenance is a gradual deterioration of function, i.e. senescence. However, this classical trade-off model gets challenged by an increasing number of contradicting studies. Here we report about an animal model, which adds more complexity to the ongoing debate. Ansell’s mole-rats are long-lived social subterranean rodents with only the founder pair reproducing, while most of their offspring remain in the parental burrow system and do not breed. Despite of a clear reproductive trade-off, breeders live up to twice as long as non-breeders, a unique feature amongst mammals.MethodsWe investigated mass-specific resting metabolic rates (msRMR) of breeders and non-breeders to gain information about the physiological basis underlying the reproduction-associated longevity in Ansell’s mole-rats. We assessed the thermoneutral zone (TNZ) for breeders and non-breeders separately by means of indirect calorimetry. We applied generalized linear mixed-effects models for repeated measurements using the msRMR in the respective TNZs.ResultsTNZ differed between reproductive and non-reproductive Ansell’s mole-rats. Contrary to classical aging models, the shorter-lived non-breeders had significantly lower msRMR within the thermoneutral zone compared to breeders.ConclusionThis is the first study reporting a positive correlation between msRMR and lifespan based on reproductive status. Our finding contradicts common aging theories, but supports recently introduced models which do not necessarily link reproductive trade-offs to lifespan reduction.

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Temperature preferences of African mole-rats (family Bathyergidae)

Cited by 14 publications

References 38 publications

The microenvironment of naked mole‐rat burrows in East Africa

The microenvironment of naked mole‐rat burrows in East Africa

Locomotor Activity and Body Temperature Patterns over a Temperature Gradient in the Highveld Mole-Rat (Cryptomys hottentotus pretoriae)

Higher resting metabolic rate in long-lived breeding Ansell’s mole-rats (Fukomys anselli)

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