| searching for major urinary proteins (mups) as chemosignals in urine of subterranean rodents. | chemosensory information mediates behavior in many rodent genera. major urinary proteins (mups) facilitate chemical communication in some species of mice. we sought to demonstrate the importance of mups in chemosignaling across a range of rodent genera that live in different habitats and social structures. we analyzed urine from three subterranean rodent genera from different continents, and with diverse social systems: eusocial zambian mole-rats (fukomys), solitary israeli blind mole rats (spal ... | 2011 | 21647723 |
| Sleep and wake in rhythmic versus arrhythmic chronotypes of a microphthalmic species of African mole rat (Fukomys mechowii). | The giant Zambian mole rat (Fukomys mechowii) is a subterranean Afrotropical rodent noted for its regressed visual system and unusual patterns of circadian rhythmicity--within this species some individuals exhibit distinct regular circadian patterns of locomotor activity while others have arrhythmic circadian patterns. The current study was aimed at understanding whether differences in circadian chronotypes in this species affect the patterns and proportions of the different phases of the sleep- ... | 2011 | 21952092 |
| distribution of parvalbumin, calbindin and calretinin containing neurons and terminal networks in relation to sleep associated nuclei in the brain of the giant zambian mole-rat (fukomys mechowii). | to broaden the understanding of the neural control and evolution of the sleep-wake cycle in mammals, the distribution and interrelations of sleep associated nuclei with neurons and terminal networks expressing the calcium-binding proteins parvalbumin, calbindin and calretinin were explored in a rodent that lacks a significant visual system. the sleep-associated nuclei explored include the cholinergic basal forebrain and pontine nuclei, the catecholaminergic locus coeruleus complex, the serotoner ... | 2013 | 23796985 |
| thermoregulation in three species of afrotropical subterranean mole-rats (rodentia: bathyergidae) from zambia and angola and scaling within the genus cryptomys. | the thermoregulatory characteristics of three species of cryptomys from zambia and angola are examined and, together with published data on four other species of cryptomys from southern africa, used to determine whether scaling occurs in this genus of subterranean rodents. the thermoregulatory properties of acclimated giant zambian mole-rats, cryptomys mechowi ([formula: see text]=267 g), angolan mole-rats, cryptomys bocagei ([formula: see text]=94 g) and zambian common mole-rats cryptomys hotte ... | 1994 | 28313932 |
| the eye of the african mole-rat cryptomys anselli: to see or not to see? | in an attempt to clarify its possible physiological role, we studied the eye of the zambian mole rat cryptomys anselli by light, electron and confocal microscopy using conventional staining as well as immunolabelling with rod and cone cell markers. the small eyes of cryptomys are located superficially and display all features typical of sighted animals: iris, pupil and well-developed lens, separating the anterior chamber and the vitreous. the retina shows a well stratified organization and the f ... | 2003 | 12603261 |
| neuroanatomy of magnetoreception: the superior colliculus involved in magnetic orientation in a mammal. | the neural substrate subserving magnetic orientation is largely unknown in vertebrates and unstudied in mammals. we combined a behavioral test for magnetic compass orientation in mole rats and immunocytochemical visualization of the transcription factor c-fos as a marker of neuronal activity. we found that the superior colliculus of the zambian mole rat (cryptomys anselli) contains neurons that are responsive to magnetic stimuli. these neurons are directionally selective and organized within a d ... | 2001 | 11598299 |
| visual system labeled by c-fos immunohistochemistry after light exposure in the 'blind' subterranean zambian mole-rat (cryptomys anselli). | the zambian mole-rat (cryptomys anselli) is a rodent that lives and forages underground, and under natural conditions is rarely, if ever, exposed to light. its eye is organized as in other rodents and is prominent but minuscule. the animals do not seem to react to light behaviorally or to orient visually, although exact physiological and/or behavioral experiments have not been conducted to date. nuclear expression of transcriptional regulatory protein (c-fos) as a marker of cell activity was stu ... | 2000 | 10940663 |
| hearing in blind subterranean zambian mole-rats (cryptomys sp.): collective behavioural audiogram in a highly social rodent. | thresholds for pure tone detection were examined in the common mole-rat, cryptomys sp. (bath-yergidae, rodentia) using a positive reinforcement procedure. to bypass the problems connected with testing isolated individuals of this extremely social species, a collective behavioural audiogram was determined for a family group of seven mole-rats. within the tested frequency range of 225 to 18 khz, the lowest thresholds (as low as 7.5 db spl, on average 24 db spl) were found at 800 hz, the upper limi ... | 1997 | 9216072 |
| acoustic communication underground: vocalization characteristics in subterranean social mole-rats (cryptomys sp., bathyergidae). | in captive adult zambian mole-rats 14 different sounds (13 true vocalizations) have been recorded during different behavioural contexts. the sound analysis revealed that all sounds occurred in a low and middle frequency range with main energy below 10 khz. the majority of calls contained components of 1.6-2 khz, 0.63-0.8 khz, and/or 5-6.3 khz. the vocalization range thus matched well the hearing range as established in other studies. the frequency content of courtship calls in two species of zam ... | 1997 | 9048440 |
| the energetics of the common mole rat cryptomys, a subterranean eusocial rodent from zambia. | body temperature, oxygen consumption, respiratory and cardiac activity and body mass loss were measured in six females and four males of the subterranean zambian mole rat cryptomys sp. (karyotype 2 n = 68), at ambient temperatures between 10 and 35 degrees c. mean body temperature ranged between 36.1 and 33.2 degrees c at ambient temperatures of 32.5-10 degrees c and was lower in females (32.7 degrees c) than in males (33.9 degrees c) at ambient temperatures of 10 degrees c but did not differ at ... | 1995 | 7738232 |
| fossorial giant zambian mole-rats have blunted ventilatory responses to environmental hypoxia and hypercapnia. | fossorial giant zambian mole-rats are believed to live in a hypoxic and hypercapnic subterranean environment but their physiological responses to these challenges are entirely unknown. to investigate this, we exposed awake and freely-behaving animals to i) 6 h of normoxia, ii) acute graded normocapnic hypoxia (21, 18, 15, 12, 8, and 5% o2, 0% co2, balance n2; 1 h each), or iii) acute graded normoxic hypercapnia (0, 2, 5, 7, 9, and 10% co2, 21% o2, balance n2; 1 h each), followed by a 1 h normoxi ... | 2020 | 32032753 |