Thermal biology of a strictly subterranean mammalian family, the African mole-rats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia) - a review

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F19%3A43899017" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/19:43899017 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0306456518303346?token=6F1453813F9A9C12D07607C87417FA7FA2DB2440B1B9E1AE1A941A0E31BCF1C19B0E34D9745C6A36B875787118BCAD64" target="_blank" >https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0306456518303346?token=6F1453813F9A9C12D07607C87417FA7FA2DB2440B1B9E1AE1A941A0E31BCF1C19B0E34D9745C6A36B875787118BCAD64</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.11.003" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.11.003</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Thermal biology of a strictly subterranean mammalian family, the African mole-rats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia) - a review

Original language description

African mole-rats are subterranean rodents, which rarely if ever leave the safety of their burrow systems. The environment of the burrows is humid, with relatively stable temperatures, and may have a hypoxic and hypercapnic atmosphere. One of crucial problems related to the subterranean way of life in mammals is avoidance of overheating, because traditional mammalian cooling mechanisms are not effective under high humidity. In African mole-rats, a variety of adaptations have evolved in response to this and other challenges of the underground ecotope. Traditionally, attention has been devoted mainly to the naked mole-rat Heterocephalus glaber, which became popular as a result of its eusociality and absence of fur, both being unique phenomena in small mammals. Despite more recent research, information on other species is still relatively limited and patchy. I review the results of studies on African mole-rats that are relevant for the understanding of their energetics and thermal biology. Attention is paid to the parameters of the burrow environment, which represent the main selection pressures shaping their physiology. In addition, an overview is given of the morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations helping mole-rats to face temperature extremes, mechanisms by which they deal with a surplus of metabolic heat and how changes in ambient temperature influence their daily activity. The naked mole-rat is compared to its furred relatives to determine whether this species is really exceptional from the point of thermal biology. An ordination analysis was conducted using published data on mole-rat body temperature, thermoneutral zone, resting metabolic rate and thermal conductance. Most of the variability in these characteristics was found to be explained by body mass, followed by temperature characteristics of climate, but not precipitation, of the species distributional ranges. This analysis shows that the naked mole-rat is comparable to the other mole-rat species in these physiological characteristics.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10613 - Zoology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA17-19896S" target="_blank" >GA17-19896S: Problems and solutions of thermoregulation in subterranean mammals</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2019

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Thermal Biology

ISSN

0306-4565

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

79

Issue of the periodical within the volume

JAN 2019

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

24

Pages from-to

166-189

UT code for WoS article

000456758000021

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85058805608