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Article
Open AccessLocally-curved geometry generates bending cracks in the African elephant skin
An intricate network of crevices adorns the skin surface of the African bush elephant, Loxodonta africana. These micrometre-wide channels enhance the effectiveness of thermal regulation (by water retention) as we...
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Article
Open AccessSociality does not drive the evolution of large brains in eusocial African mole-rats
The social brain hypothesis (SBH) posits that the demands imposed on individuals by living in cohesive social groups exert a selection pressure favouring the evolution of large brains and complex cognitive abi...
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Article
The influence of food restriction and photoperiod on reproduction in male spiny mice (Acomys spinosissimus): Evidence for terminal investment?
Photoperiod and food availability often interact in the regulation of reproductive development in seasonal environments. We tested the effects of a 10% food restriction and short- (SD) and long-day (LD) photop...
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Article
Subterranean Mammals: Reservoirs of Infection or Overlooked Sentinels of Anthropogenic Environmental Soiling?
Global reports of emergent pathogens in humans have intensified efforts to identify wildlife reservoirs. Subterranean mammals, such as bathyergid mole rats, are largely overlooked, despite their high-level exp...
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Article
Open AccessIdentification of animal movement patterns using tri-axial magnetometry
Accelerometers are powerful sensors in many bio-logging devices, and are increasingly allowing researchers to investigate the performance, behaviour, energy expenditure and even state, of free-living animals. ...
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Article
Characterization of 14 polymorphic microsatellite loci developed for an Afrotherian species endemic to southern Africa, Elephantulus myurus (Macroscelidea: Macroscelididae)
Fourteen microsatellite loci were developed for the eastern rock sengi, Elephantulus myurus Thomas & Schwann, 1906 by incorporating genetic diversity from across its range in South Africa. Sengis are small mammal...
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Article
Open AccessLipidome determinants of maximal lifespan in mammals
Maximal lifespan of mammalian species, even if closely related, may differ more than 10-fold, however the nature of the mechanisms that determine this variability is unresolved. Here, we assess the relationshi...
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Article
Open AccessEvidence for interspecific interactions in the ectoparasite infracommunity of a wild mammal
Co-infection with multiple parasite species is commonly observed in nature and interspecific interactions are likely to occur in parasite infracommunities. Such interactions may affect the distribution of para...
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Article
Female reproductive activity and its endocrine correlates in the African lesser bushbaby, Galago moholi
Steroid hormones play an important role in female reproductive physiology and behaviour and are often used to monitor important female reproductive events. However, such studies are often attempted on captive ...
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Article
Digging for answers: contributions of density- and frequency-dependent factors on ectoparasite burden in a social mammal
Due to the density-dependent nature of parasite transmission parasites are generally assumed to constrain the evolution of sociality. However, evidence for a correlation between group size and parasite burden ...
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Article
Reproductive photo-responsiveness in male forest shrews (Myosorex varius) from the Eastern Cape of South Africa
A number of environmental factors regulate the reproductive physiology of an organism. Life history traits, such as length of gestation and ovulation patterns of individual species, may result in reproduction ...
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Article
The hustle and bustle of city life: monitoring the effects of urbanisation in the African lesser bushbaby
Urbanisation has become a severe threat to pristine natural areas, causing habitat loss and affecting indigenous animals. Species occurring within an urban fragmented landscape must cope with changes in vegeta...
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Next-Generation Sequencing Applications in Head and Neck Oncology
Head and neck cancer remains a major medical problem with significant morbidity, mortality and quality of life issues. Over the recent past there has been an increase in incidence, a shift in etiological facto...
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Article
In contrast to many other mammals, cetaceans have relatively small hippocampi that appear to lack adult neurogenesis
The hippocampus is essential for the formation and retrieval of memories and is a crucial neural structure sub-serving complex cognition. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis, the birth, migration and integration of...
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Article
The pattern of ovulation in the southern African spiny mouse (Acomys spinosissimus)
The pattern of ovulation in mammals is generally considered to be either spontaneous or induced by coitus. The present study aimed to assess the pattern of ovulation in the southern African spiny mice (Acomys spi...
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Article
Open AccessThe Namaqua rock mouse (Micaelamys namaquensis) as a potential reservoir and host of arthropod vectors of diseases of medical and veterinary importance in South Africa
The role of endemic murid rodents as hosts of arthropod vectors of diseases of medical and veterinary significance is well established in the northern hemisphere. In contrast, endemic murids are comparatively ...
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Article
Open AccessA widespread problem: cryptic diversity in the Libyan jird
The Libyan jird, Meriones libycus, is described as occurring from Morocco to the Mongolian plateau. Three subspecies are known from morphological determinations but not genetic data. We used museum collection loc...
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Article
Spicing up the menu: evidence of fruit feeding in Galago moholi
The African lesser bushbaby, Galago moholi, is described as a food specialist, feeding exclusively on small arthropods and gum primarily from Acacia karroo trees. We studied a population of G. moholi in a highly ...
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Article
Sexual selection and genital allometry in the Hottentot golden mole (Amblysomus hottentotus)
Under sexual selection, genitalia typically undergo rapid and divergent evolution across species and competition between the sexes over control of fertilisation may drive the co-evolution of male and female se...
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Article
Influence of spatial environment on maze learning in an African mole-rat
In subterranean species where excavation is energetically expensive, efficient spatial navigation is vital to reducing the costs of locating important resources such as food and mates. While spatial navigation...
