Abstract
Ansell’s mole-rats (Fukomys anselli) live in families of a breeding pair and several overlapping generations of their non-breeding offspring. Locomotor activity of 47 Ansell’s mole-rats from six laboratory families was recorded for a week using radio frequency identification (RFID). This technique allowed monitoring each animal’s activity without isolating them from other members of their family. Animals were active about 17% of the recording time, and older animals were significantly less active than younger ones. Females tended to be slightly more active than males. There was no significant difference in the amount of activity between breeding and non-breeding individuals. Consequently, the activity pattern does not seem to account for previously reported differences in longevity between breeding and non-breeding animals.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bandoli, J.H., 1987. Activity and plural occupancy of burrows inBotta’s pocket gopher Thomomys bottae. Am. Midl. Nat. 118, 10–14.
Begall, S., Daan, S., Burda, H., Overkamp, G.J.F., 2002. Activity patterns in a subterranean social rodent, Spalacopus cyanus (Octodontidae). J. Mammal. 83, 153–158.
Benedix, J.H., 1994. A predictable pattern of daily activity by the pocket gopher Geomys bursarius. Anim. Behav. 48, 501–509.
Buffenstein, R., 2000. Ecophysiological responses of subterranean rodents to underground habitats. In: Lacey, E., Patton, J.L., Cameron, G.N. (Eds.), Life Underground: The Biology of Subterranean Rodents. Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 62–110.
Burda, H., Honeycutt, R.L., Begall, S., Locker-Grütjen, O., Scharff, A., 2000. Are naked and common mole-rats eusocial and if so, why? Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 47, 293–303.
Cameron, G.N., Spencer, S.R., Eshelman, B.D., Williams, L.R., Gregory, M.J., 1988. Activity and burrow structure of Attwater’s pocket gopher (Geomys attwateri). J. Mammal. 69, 667–677.
Contreras, L.C., McNab, B.K., 1990. The rmoregulation and energetics in subterranean mammals. In: Nevo, E., Reig, O.A. (Eds.), Evolution of Subterranean Mammals at the Organismal and Molecular Levels. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp. 231–250.
Daan, S., Masman, D., Groenwold, A., 1990. Avian basal metabolic rates: their association with body composition and energy expenditure in nature. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 259, 333–340.
Dammann, P., Burda, H., 2006. Sexual activity and reproduction delay ageing in a mammal. Curr. Biol. 16, 117–118.
Dammann, P., Burda, H., 2007. Senescence patterns in African mole-rats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia). In: Begall, S., Burda, H., Schleich, C.E. (Eds.), Subterranean Rodents—News from Underground. Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 251–263.
Dammann, P., Šumbera, R., Maßmann, C., Scherag, A., Burda, H., 2011. Extended longevityofreproductives appears to be common in Fukomys mole-rats (Rodentia, Bathyergidae). PLoS One 6 (4), e18757, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018757.
De Vries, J.L., Oosthuizen, M.K., Sichilima, A.M., Bennett, N.C., 2008. Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in Ansell’s mole-rat: are mole-rat’s clocks ticking? J. Zool. Lond. 276, 343–349.
Edrey, Y.H., Park, T.J., Kang, H., Biney, A., Buffenstein, R., 2011. Endocrine function and neurobiology of the longest-living rodent, the naked mole-rat. Exper. Gerontol. 46, 116–123.
Fritzsche, P., Miethe, G., Gattermann, R., 1997. Circadian activity rhythm and entrainment in the subterranean common mole-rat (Cryptomys hottentotus). Biol. Rhythm Res. 6 (Suppl.), 116.
Gettinger, R.D., 1984. A field study of activity patterns of Thomomys bottae. J. Mamm. 65, 76–84.
Goldman, B.D., Goldman, S.L., Riccio, A.P., Terkel, J., 1997. Circadian patterns of locomotor activity and body temperature in Blind mole-rats, Spalax ehrenbergi. J. Biol. Rhythms 12, 348–361.
Harmann, D., 1957. Aging: a theory based on free radical and radiation chemistry. J. Gerontol. 11, 298–300.
Hickman, G.C., 1980. Locomotor activity of captive Cryptomys hottentotus (Mammalia: Bathyergidae), a fossorial rodent. J. Zool. Lond. 192, 225–235.
Hölldobler, B., Wilson, E.O., 1990. The Ants. Springer, Berlin.
Ingram, D.K., 2000. Age-related decline in physical activity: generalization to non-humans. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 32, 1623–1629.
Jarvis, J.U.M., 1973. Activity patterns in the mole-rats Tachyoryctes splendens and Heliophobius argenteocinereus. Zool. Afr. 8, 101–119.
Jarvis, J.U.M., 1981. Eusociality in a mammal: cooperative breeding in naked mole-rat colonies. Science 212, 189–194.
Lovegrove, B.G., 1988. Colony size and structure, activity patterns and foraging behaviour of a colony of the social mole-rat Cryptomys damarensis. J. Zool. Lond. 216, 391–402.
Lovegrove, B.G., Papenfus, M.E., 1995. Circadian activity rhythms in the solitary Cape molerat (Georychus capensis: Bathyergidae) with some evidence of splitting. Physiol. Behav. 58, 679–685.
Monaghan, P., Haussmann, M.F., 2006. Dotelomere dynamics link lifestyle and lifes-pan? Trends Ecol. Evol. 21, 47–53.
Moshkin, M., Novikov, E., Petrovski, D., 2007. Skimping as an adaptive strategy in a social fossorial rodents: the Mole Vole (Ellobius talpinus) as an example. In: Begall, S., Burda, H., Schleich, C.E. (Eds.), Subterranean Rodents–News from Underground. Springer, Heidelberg, pp. 49–60.
Oosthuizen, M.K., Cooper, H.M., Bennett, N.C., 2003. Circadian rhythmsof locomotor activityin solitary and social species of African mole-rats (family: Bathyergidae). J. Biol. Rhythms 18, 481–490.
Pearl, R., 1928. The Rate of Living. Knopf, New York.
Scharff, A., Grütjen, O., 1997. Evidence for aboveground activity of Zambian mole-rats (Cryptomys, Bathyergidae, Rodentia). Z. Säugetierk. 62, 253–254.
Škliba, J., Šumbera, R., Chitaukali, W.N., Burda, H., 2007. Determinants of daily activity patterns in a free-living afrotropical subterranean rodent. J. Mammal. 88, 1009–1016.
Speakman, J.R., Talbot, D.A., Selman, C., Snart, S., McLaren, J.S., Redman, P., Krol, E., Jackson, D.M., Johnson, M.S., Brand, M.D., 2004. Uncoupled and surviving: individual mice with high metabolism have greater mitochondrial uncoupling and live longer. Aging Cell 3, 87–95.
Spinks, A.C., Jarvis, J.U.M., Bennett, N.C., 2000. Comparative patterns of philopatry and dispersal in two common mole-rat populations: implications for the evolution of mole-rat sociality. J. Anim. Ecol. 69, 224–234.
Tsuji, K., Nakata, K., Heinze, J., 1996. Lifespan and reproduction in a queenless ant. Naturwissenschaften 83, 557–558.
Vasicek, C.A., Oosthuizen, M.K., Cooper, H.M., Bennett, N.C., 2005. Circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in the subterranean Mashona mole rat, Cryptomys darlingi. Physiol. Behav. 84, 181–191.
Wegner, R.E., Begall, S., Burda, H., 2006. Light perception in ‘blind’ subterranean Zambian mole-rats. Anim. Behav. 72, 1021–1024.
Wong, T.P., 2001. An old question revisited: current understanding of aging theories. McGill J. Med. 6, 41–47.
Zelová, J., Šumbera, R., Sedláček, F., Burda, H., 2007. Energetics in a solitary subterranean rodent, the silvery mole-rat, Heliophobius argenteocinereus, and allometry of RMR in African mole-rats (Bathyergidae). Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 14, 412–419.
Zuri, I., Terkel, J., 1996. Locomotor patterns, territory and tunnel utilization in the mole-rat Spalax ehrenbergi. J. Zool. Lond. 240, 123–140.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schielke, C.K.M., Begall, S. & Burda, H. Reproductive state does not influence activity budgets of eusocial Ansell’s mole-rats, Fukomys anselli (Rodentia, Bathyergidae): A study of locomotor activity by means of RFID. Mamm Biol 77, 1–5 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2011.09.004
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2011.09.004