Overview
Distribution
Range Description
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Geographic Range
Common mole rats are found in southwestern Cape Province, South Africa.
Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
Body length of common mole rats ranges from 10.5 to 16.5 cm long and tail length from 1.2 to 3.8 cm. The fur is thick and is composed of many different colors, including a white spot on the head. Many of the physical features of mole rats are suited to an underground lifestyle. The body is cylindrical and the appendages are short. This shape allows the animal to burrow effectively. Long sensory hairs called vibrissae stand out from the pelage over the body. Mole rats have chisel-like incisors used for digging. The eyes are very reduced. In each colony, the reproductive male and female are the largest individuals. The rest of the colony members exhibit a sexually dimorphic pattern of size where the males are larger than the females.
Range mass: 50 to 130 g.
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.35 W.
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
Systems
- Terrestrial
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Habitat
Common mole rats live in the soil of grassy open plains.
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
Common mole rats are herbivorous, eating mainly geophytes, plants with underground storage organs, and grass rhizomes. They also consume large quantities of fiber, found in the roots of many plants.
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 11 years.
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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing
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Reproduction
Reproduction
C. hottentotus is a seasonal breeder with one or two litters per breeding season. Courtship, initiated by the male while the female is in estrous, consists of the female raising her tail and allowing the male to smell her genital region; this is followed by the male gently chewing on the female's hind region and stroking her sides with his head, finally the male mounts and mates. Each litter consists of 2-5 young, each weighing 8-9 grams. This small number of offspring may be due to the high survival rate of the young in the protective environment of the tunnels. The pups first leave the nest site 5 days after birth and begin to eat solids 10 days after birth.
Average birth mass: 8.63 g.
Average gestation period: 81 days.
Average number of offspring: 2.86.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 450 days.
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Justification
History
- 2004Least Concern
- 1996Lower Risk/least concern
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Conservation Status
Though common mole rats are found only in Southern Africa, the population there is quite dense. Mole rats have few predators due to their fossorial lifestyle and the lack of ground burrowing predators in Africa. The eastern beaked snake and some birds of prey may attack mole rats while digging out a burrow or venturing to the surface. Mole snakes (Pseudaspis cana) prey upon mole rats by penetrating the tunnel system.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
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Trends
Population
Population Trend
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Threats
Threats
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Management
Conservation Actions
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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems
Benefits
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Common mole rats can cause damage to human property. They can eat through most anything, including underground cables and roots of crops. The large mounds of dirt that they dig up can also cause damage to harvesting machines.
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Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Due to the number of tunnels and amount of soil mole rats move, they help to improve soil drainage and soil turnover.
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Wikipedia
Common mole rat
The Common mole rat, Cryptomys hottentotus, is a burrowing rodent found in the continent of Africa, specifically in the southwest Cape province, South Africa. It is also found in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.[1] The common mole rat belongs to the Bathyerginae family. Bathyerginae is monophyletic, with all taxa tracing back to one common ancestor.[2]
Contents |
Physical appearance
The average body length of a common mole rat is 10.5 to 16.5 cm, the tail is 1.2 to 3.8 cm. The fur is thick with many different colors, with a distinct white spot on the head. The shape of the body is cylindrical with short appendages. Common mole rats also have chisel-like incisors that are used for digging.[3]
Reproduction and development
Common mole rats are characterized for having one reproductive pair, consisting of the largest female and male in one group. Mating occurs between the months of September and October.[1] During this time, the female raises her tail and allows the mate to smell her genital region. The male then gently chews on her hind region, mounts and mates. The birth of offspring is restricted to the southern hemisphere summer period. The gestation period is about 81 days with 2-5 young per litter.[1] The average age at reproductive maturity is approximately 450 days. Females maintain reproductive function during non-reproductive months.[2]
Ecology
Common mole rats are fossorial mammals that can live in a wide range of substrates.[1] They are herbivorous, mainly eating geophytes (plants with underground storage organs) and grass rhizomes. Common mole rats are very widespread, thus their abundance is not well known. This species shows signs of localization due to soil requirements. The pattern of burrowing systems for common mole rats optimizes their access to food, especially gephytes.[4] Burrowing has a negative economic impact in that it damages human property but it is also positive in that it improves soil drainage and turnover.[3]
Physiological attributes
Common mole rats are endothermic, having the ability to generate their own heat and keep their body temperature above ambient temperature. They have lower individual body masses in arid environments that help with energy conservation.[5] These mole rats also have long sensory hairs called Vibrissae that stand out from the pelage (fur covering) over their body.
Behavior
Common mole rats are social creatures that live in family units up to 14 individuals. They showcase eusocial behavior, which involves specialized behavior and cooperative care of the young. Younger mole rats would likely be workers and older mole rats could be casual workers. These workers, for the most part, burrow and forage, with casual workers not working as much as younger workers. The oldest mole rats are breeders.[3]
Tunneling
Mole-rats have cylindrical bodies with short limbs to help inside of the tunnels. It has loose skin to fit in small spaces. Can practically somersault within its loose skin. Has hair behind its teeth to prevent dirt and soil from getting inside of the mouth. Loosens soil with teeth then pushes soil underneath its body with forefeet to the hind feet which kick it behind them.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List lists Cryptomys hottentotus as of Least Concern.[1] Because of their dense and widespread population and their adaptability to pasturelands and rural gardens, their prognosis is a positive one.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Maree, S.; Faulkes, C.. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/5755/0/full. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
- ^ a b Bishop, J.M.; Jarvis, J.U.; Spinks, A.C.; Bennett, N.C.; O'Ryan, C. (2004). "Molecular insight into patterns of colony composition and paternity in the common-mole rat Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus". Molecular Ecology 13 (5): 1217–1229. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02131.x. PMID 15078457.
- ^ a b c Bruening, S. (2001). "Cryptomys hottentotus: African mole rat". http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cryptomys_hottentotus.html. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
- ^ Spinks, A.C.; Bennett, N.C.; Jarvis, J.U.M. (1998). "Regulation of Reproduction in female Common-mole rats (Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus): The effects of breeding season and reproductive status". Journal of Zoology 268: 161–168.
- ^ Spinks, A.C.; Bennett, N.C.; Jarvis, J.U.M. (2000). "A comparison of the ecology of two populations of the common mole-rat, Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus: The effect of aridity on food, foraging and body mass". Oecologia 125 (3): 341–349. doi:10.1007/s004420000460.
- Woods, C.A.; Kilpatrick, C.W. (2005). "Cryptomys hottentotus". In D.E. Wilson & D.M. Reeder (Eds.), Mammal species of the world: A taxonomic and geographic reference (3rd Ed.), pp 1538–1600. Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, D.C. The encyclopedia of mammals Page 690-693
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