| caecal size and function in the rock elephant shrew elephantulus myurus (insectivora, macroscelididae) and the namaqua rock mouse aethomys namaquensis (rodentia, muridae). | 1. the relative size of the digestive organs and the function of the caeca of an insectivorous elephant shrew elephantulus myurus (macroscelididae) and of a herbivorous rodent aethomys namaquensis (muridae) were compared. 2. both species had similar body mass but a. namaquensis had a significantly heavier total digestive tract, full stomach, and caecum and a longer large intestine and caecum than e. myurus. 3. both species had similar total volatile fatty acid (vfa) concentration and vfa % compo ... | 1987 | 2886272 |
| an undescribed rhipicephalus species associated with field paralysis of angora goats. | paralysis of angora goat kids caused by adult ticks, which most probably belong to an undescribed species of the rhipicephalus pravus group, is described. confirmed cases of paralysis occurred in the south-western orange free state between the second half of september and the first half of november as well as during the first half of february. the mean female tick burdens (mean = 21.4) of paralysed angora kids were significantly higher than those of healthy kids (mean = 4.4). the predilection at ... | 1988 | 3361560 |
| sequential feeding of ixodes rubicundus on its natural host, elephantulus myurus: effects on tick mass and on engorgement and moulting success. | engorgement, mass at repletion and moulting success of immature ixodes rubicundus after sequential infestations of their natural hosts, rock elephant shrews (elephantulus myurus), were investigated under laboratory conditions. the reaction of e. myurus is characterized by inefficient or non-existent anti-tick immunity which enables immature i. rubicundus to attach and engorge successfully and ensures a high moulting success rate. | 1994 | 7596564 |
| detachment rhythms of immature ixodes rubicundus from their natural host, the rock elephant shrew (elephantulus myurus). | detachment rhythms of immature karoo paralysis ticks (ixodes rubicundus) from their natural host, the rock elephant shrew (elephantulus myurus), were investigated under laboratory and natural conditions. larvae and nymphs detach mainly during the day. peak detachment always occurred after the commencement of artificial as well as natural light cycles. the detachment of larvae appears to be more synchronous than that of nymphs, with a larger percentage of larvae detaching over a shorter period of ... | 1994 | 7596565 |
| the effect of feeding immature karoo paralysis ticks ixodes rubicundus (acari: ixodidae) on the metabolic rate of the rock elephant shrew. | the effect of feeding immature karoo paralysis ticks (ixodes rubicundus) on the resting metabolic rate (rmr) of their principal natural host, the rock elephant shrew (elephantulus myurus), was investigated under laboratory conditions. the elephant shrews were artificially infested with numbers of ticks simulating natural burdens. the rmr of the elephant shrews was quantified by measuring the oxygen consumption in an open through-flow system. the rmr of hosts infested only with larvae did not dif ... | 1994 | 7628243 |
| hosts, seasonal occurrence and life cycle of rhipicentor nuttalli (acari: ixodidae). | there are only two species worldwide within the genus rhipicentor, namely rhipicentor bicornis and rhipicentor nuttalli and both occur only in africa. rhipicentor nuttali has a widespread distribution in south africa and the present investigation was initiated to elucidate its host preference, seasonality and life cycle. rock elephant shrews, elephantulus myurus were examined for ticks at four localities in the free state province, one in gauteng province and two in limpopo province, south afric ... | 2002 | 12356163 |
| fleas of elephant shrews (mammalia, macroscelididae) and a new host and locality record for macroscelidopsylla albertyni de meillon & marcus, 1958 (siphonaptera, chimaeropsyllidae). | fleas collected from the elephant shrews elephantulus edwardii (a. smith, 1839) in the western cape province, elephantulus myurus thomas & schwann, 1906 in free state province, and an elephantulus of undetermined species in the eastern cape province, south africa are recorded in this paper. five flea species were recovered of which demeillonia granti (rothschild, 1904) was the most numerous and prevalent. it was followed by macroscelidopsylla albertyni de meillon & marcus, 1958, collected only f ... | 2003 | 14621322 |
| daily torpor in free-ranging rock elephant shrews, elephantulus myurus: a year-long study. | under laboratory conditions, rock elephant shrews, elephantulus myurus, use daily torpor under both short and long photoperiod acclimation. however, use of heterothermy often differs under field and laboratory conditions. we investigated the use of torpor in free-ranging elephant shrews from may 2001 to may 2002. the elephant shrews were capable of daily torpor throughout the year, with torpor most prevalent during winter. we recorded two torpor bouts during early summer (november). we recorded ... | 2004 | 15095248 |
| elephant shrews as hosts of immature ixodid ticks. | two hundred and seventy-three elephant shrews, consisting of 193 elephantulus myurus, 67 elephantulus edwardii and 13 animals belonging to other species, were examined for ixodid ticks at 18 localities in south africa and namibia. the immature stages of ixodes rubicundus, rhipicentor nuttalli, rhipicephalus warburtoni and a rhipicephalus pravus-like tick were the most numerous of the 18 tick species recovered. substantial numbers of immature rhipicephalus arnoldi, rhipicephalus distinctus and rh ... | 2005 | 16562732 |
| detection of anaplasma bovis in an undescribed tick species collected from the eastern rock sengi elephantulus myurus. | abstract ticks are important vectors of numerous pathogens causing illness, fatalities, and economic loss worldwide. infectious disease episodes are increasing and novel tick-borne pathogens are described frequently. identification of novel reservoir hosts and vectors of tick-borne pathogens are essential if control measures are to be successful. in south africa, the eastern rock sengi, elephantulus myurus, hosts a number of tick species of veterinary importance. despite this, there remains a pa ... | 2011 | 21711102 |
| abiotic and biotic determinants of tick burdens in the eastern rock sengi (elephantulus myurus). | ticks are important vectors of pathogens of medical and veterinary importance worldwide. in spite of their economic importance, our current knowledge about the factors affecting tick prevalence and abundance in tropical and subtropical regions is rather limited. both abiotic (e.g. temperature) as well as biotic variables (e.g. host sex) have been identified as key determinants of distributions. eastern rock sengis or elephant shrews (elephantulus myurus, macroscelidea: cacroscelididae, thomas & ... | 2011 | 22187948 |
| the hippocampus of the eastern rock sengi: cytoarchitecture, markers of neuronal function, principal cell numbers, and adult neurogenesis. | the brains of sengis (elephant shrews, order macroscelidae) have long been known to contain a hippocampus that in terms of allometric progression indices is larger than that of most primates and equal in size to that of humans. in this report, we provide descriptions of hippocampal cytoarchitecture in the eastern rock sengi (elephantulus myurus), of the distributions of hippocampal calretinin, calbindin, parvalbumin, and somatostatin, of principal neuron numbers, and of cell numbers related to p ... | 2013 | 24194702 |
| eastern rock sengis as reservoir hosts of anaplasma bovis in south africa. | recent work has identified the presence of anaplasma bovis, a tick-borne pathogen of cattle, in a previously undescribed species of tick collected from eastern rock sengis, elephantulus myurus, in limpopo province, south africa. these small insectivores are endemic to africa and are important hosts of immature ticks, however, their role as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens has not been investigated. in order to elucidate the role of sengis in the epidemiology of a. bovis, we screened the blood ... | 2013 | 24050934 |
| endoparasites of the eastern rock sengi (elephantulus myurus) from south africa. | the endoparasite fauna of the eastern rock sengi ( elephantulus myurus thomas and schwann) was studied for the first time for any sengi species from september 2007 until august 2008 in the limpopo province of south africa. from the 121 sengis examined, we recovered 11 endoparasite taxa, including 9 nematodes, 1 cestode family (hymenolepididae), and 1 pentastomid species (armillifer armillatus (wyman, 1834)). the overall endoparasite prevalence was high, at 100%, and largely attributable to the n ... | 2015 | 26244487 |
| analysis of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone-1 and kisspeptin neuronal systems in the nonphotoregulated seasonally breeding eastern rock elephant-shrew (elephantulus myurus). | of the 18 sub-saharan elephant-shrew species, only eastern rock elephant-shrews reproduce seasonally throughout their distribution, a process seemingly independent of photoperiod. the present study characterizes gonadal status and location/intensity of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone-1 (gnrh-1) and kisspeptin immunoreactivities in this polyovulating species in the breeding and nonbreeding seasons. gnrh-1-immunoreactive (ir) cell bodies are predominantly in the medial septum, diagonal band, and m ... | 2018 | 30004584 |
| sex and dose-dependent responses of urinary and faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations following an acth challenge in eastern rock sengis (elephantulus myurus). | non-invasive methods for measuring glucocorticoids and their metabolites are frequently used in ecological, behavioural and physiological studies of mammals. using faeces, urine and other matrices for such a measurement has considerable advantages in comparison to more traditional methods, but also requires thorough validation of the methods used. eastern rock sengis (elephantulus myurus) are fascinating african mammals and the non-invasive monitoring of the adrenocortical activity opens up new ... | 2020 | 32268194 |
| redescription of maupasina weissi (seurat, 1913) (nematoda: ascaridida) from sengis, elephantulus spp. and macroscelides proboscideus (shaw) (macroscelidea), in africa. | maupasina weissi (seurat, 1913), is redescribed from the eastern rock sengi, elephantulus myurus thomas & schwann, from limpopo province and compared with material collected from free state and north west provinces, south africa, as well as the description of the type-material from south tunisia. distinguishing features of the species include a corona radiata of 12 pointed leaflike elements, a complex bipartite buccal capsule with 3 large bicuspid denticular lobes and 4 smaller club-shaped lobes ... | 2018 | 30341721 |
| heterothermy in elephant shrews, elephantulus spp. (macroscelidea): daily torpor or hibernation? | the physiological parameters of heterothermy (e.g. minimum body temperature and oxygen consumption, percentage metabolic reduction, and bout length) were measured in two species of elephantulus elephant shrews (elephantulus myurus and elephantulus rozeti; macroscelidea) as a function of ambient temperature. both species displayed deep torpor whereby the body temperatures of ca. 5 degrees c and oxygen consumption as low as 2% of basal metabolic rate were attained. torpor bout length (n = 57 bouts ... | 2001 | 11263721 |
| daily torpor in elephant shrews (macroscelidea: elephantulus spp.) in response to food deprivation. | patterns of daily torpor were measured in response to photoperiod and food restriction at a constant temperature (18 degrees c) in two species of elephant shrew (macroscelidea), elephantulus rozeti (from morocco) and elephantulus myurus (from southern africa). body temperature was monitored continuously for ca. 3 months using temperature-sensitive telemeters. under short photoperiods (8:16 l:d), both species entered spontaneous torpor on an ad libitum diet, but showed a higher frequency of induc ... | 2001 | 11263722 |
| exogenous passive heating during torpor arousal in free-ranging rock elephant shrews, elephantulus myurus. | in the laboratory rock elephant shrews (elephantulus myurus; mean body mass 56.6 g) displayed the lowest torpor tb minyet recorded (ca. 5°c) in a placental daily heterotherm. it was unknown whether these low tbs were characteristic of daily heterothermy in free-ranging animals. it was also unclear how cost effective these low tbs were since considerable energy is required to arouse from low tbs on a daily basis. we continuously measured body temperature once every hour for 85 days in 13 free-ran ... | 2002 | 28466221 |
| noradrenalin induces thermogenesis in a phylogenetically ancient eutherian mammal, the rock elephant shrew, elephantulus myurus. | the evolution of endothermy is thought to have been facilitated by the advent of endothermic energy sources such as brown adipose tissue (bat), the principal site of non-shivering thermogenesis (nst). in marsupials, heat is primarily produced through shivering and nst in skeletal muscle because bat is either absent or appears to be non-functional. the most basal group of the eutherian lineage are the afrotheria. rock elephant shrews, elephantulus myurus are amongst the smallest members of the af ... | 2006 | 16317548 |
| the molecular and biochemical basis of nonshivering thermogenesis in an african endemic mammal, elephantulus myurus. | uncoupling protein 1 (ucp1) mediated nonshivering thermogenesis (nst) in brown adipose tissue (bat) is an important avenue of thermoregulatory heat production in many mammalian species. until recently, ucp1 was thought to occur exclusively in eutherians. in the light of the recent finding that ucp1 is already present in fish, it is of interest to investigate when ucp1 gained a thermogenic function in the vertebrate lineage. we elucidated the basis of nst in the rock elephant shrew, elephantulus ... | 2007 | 17686883 |
| nuclear organization of cholinergic, putative catecholaminergic and serotonergic nuclei in the brain of the eastern rock elephant shrew, elephantulus myurus. | the organization of the nuclear subdivisions of the cholinergic, putative catecholaminergic and serotonergic systems of the brain of the elephant shrew (elephantulus myurus) were determined following immunohistochemistry for choline acetyltransferase, tyrosine hydroxylase and serotonin, respectively. this was done in order to determine if differences in the nuclear organization of these systems in comparison to other mammals were evident and how any noted differences may relate to specialized be ... | 2010 | 20067831 |
| effects of life-history traits on parasitism in a monogamous mammal, the eastern rock sengi (elephantulus myurus). | the distribution of parasites is often characterised by substantial aggregation with a small proportion of hosts harbouring the majority of parasites. this pattern can be generated by abiotic and biotic factors that affect hosts and determine host exposure and susceptibility to parasites. climate factors can change a host's investment in life-history traits (e.g. growth, reproduction) generating temporal patterns of parasite aggregation. similarly, host age may affect such investment. furthermor ... | 2012 | 22170351 |
| solar radiation during rewarming from torpor in elephant shrews: supplementation or substitution of endogenous heat production? | many small mammals bask in the sun during rewarming from heterothermy, but the implications of this behaviour for their energy balance remain little understood. specifically, it remains unclear whether solar radiation supplements endogenous metabolic thermogenesis (i.e., rewarming occurs through the additive effects of internally-produced and external heat), or whether solar radiation reduces the energy required to rewarm by substituting (i.e, replacing) metabolic heat production. to address thi ... | 2015 | 25853244 |
| the distribution of doublecortin-immunopositive cells in the brains of four afrotherian mammals: the hottentot golden mole (amblysomus hottentotus), the rock hyrax (procavia capensis), the eastern rock sengi (elephantulus myurus) and the four-toed sengi (petrodromus tetradactylus). | adult neurogenesis in the mammalian brain is now a widely accepted phenomenon, typically occurring in two forebrain structures: the subgranular zone (sgz) of the hippocampal dentate gyrus and the subventricular zone (svz). until recently, the majority of studies have focused on laboratory rodents, and it is under debate whether the process of adult neurogenesis occurs outside of the sgz and the svz in other mammalian species. in the present study, we investigated potential adult neurogenetic sit ... | 2014 | 25377859 |
| differential feeding success of two paralysis-inducing ticks, rhipicephalus warburtoni and ixodes rubicundus on sympatric small mammal species, elephantulus myurus and micaelamys namaquensis. | rodents are recognised as important hosts of ixodid ticks and as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens across the world. sympatric insectivores are usually inconspicuous and often overlooked as hosts of ticks and reservoirs of disease. elephant shrews or sengis of the order macroscelidea are small insectivores that often occur in sympatry with rodents in southern africa. sengis are invariably parasitised by large numbers of immature ticks while sympatric rodents are infested with very few. the reas ... | 2012 | 22521977 |
| foraging in space and time structure an african small mammal community. | we used live-trapping and foraging to test for the effect of habitat selection and diet on structuring a community of six small mammals and one bird within the soutpansberg, south africa. we established grids that straddled adjacent habitats: woodland, rocky hillside, and grassland. trapping and foraging were used to estimate abundance, habitat use, and species-specific foraging costs. the species with the highest abundance and foraging activity in a habitat, activity time, or food was considere ... | 2014 | 24648024 |
| complex interactions within the ectoparasite community of the eastern rock sengi (elephantulus myurus). | concomitant infection with more than one parasite species is the rule in nature. since co-infecting parasites are exploiting the same host, interspecific interactions at the infracommunity level are likely. the nature of such interactions can be expected to affect the distribution of parasites within host populations. intraspecific interactions within the infracommunity are not easily discernible from cross-sectional studies and the focus of most of these studies lies on relationships between en ... | 2015 | 25830115 |