| experimental plague infection in south african wild rodents. | susceptibility studies were undertaken to determine the response of some south african wild rodent species to experimental plague (yersinia pestis) infection. a degree of plague resistance was found in three gerbil species captured in the plague enzootic region of the northern cape province, these being the namaqua gerbil, desmodillus auricularis, (ld50 1 x 10(6) organisms), the bushveld gerbil, tatera leucogaster, (ld50 9.1 x 10(5)) and the highveld gerbil, t. brantsii (ld50 4 x 10(2)). animals ... | 1986 | 3701038 |
| distribution and morphology of catecholaminergic and serotonergic neurons in the brain of the highveld gerbil, tatera brantsii. | the distribution, morphology and nuclear subdivisions of the putative catecholaminergic and serotonergic systems within the brain of the highveld gerbil were identified following immunohistochemistry for tyrosine hydroxylase and serotonin. the aim of the present study was to investigate possible differences in the complement of nuclear subdivisions of these systems when comparing those of the highveld gerbil with those of the laboratory rat. the highveld gerbil was chosen as it is relatively clo ... | 2007 | 17606363 |
| habitat-specific shaping of proliferation and neuronal differentiation in adult hippocampal neurogenesis of wild rodents. | daily life of wild mammals is characterized by a multitude of attractive and aversive stimuli. the hippocampus processes complex polymodal information associated with such stimuli and mediates adequate behavioral responses. how newly generated hippocampal neurons in wild animals contribute to hippocampal function is still a subject of debate. here, we test the relationship between adult hippocampal neurogenesis (ahn) and habitat types. to this end, we compare wild muridae species of southern afr ... | 2013 | 23616743 |
| pyramidal cells in v1 of african rodents are bigger, more branched and more spiny than those in primates. | pyramidal cells are characterized by markedly different sized dendritic trees, branching patterns, and spine density across the cortical mantle. moreover, pyramidal cells have been shown to differ in structure among homologous cortical areas in different species; however, most of these studies have been conducted in primates. whilst pyramidal cells have been quantified in a few cortical areas in some other species there are, as yet, no uniform comparative data on pyramidal cell structure in a ho ... | 2014 | 24574977 |
| the effect of gerbils (tatera brantsii) on primary production and plant species composition in a southern african savanna. | due to burrowing activity and selective feeding, the highveld gerbil, tatera brantsii a. smith, has a great influnce on grassland vegetation. within old colonies, in comparison to control sites, total biomass of plants was reduced by 47.6% from an average of 234.0 g/m2 to 122.6 g/m2. root biomass was reduced by 34% from 539 g/m2 to 355 g/m2. correspondingly maximum vegetation heights decreased by 33.5% from 106.4 cm to 70.8 cm. the number of plant species was not different between disturbed and ... | 1989 | 28312865 |