Fossorial adaptations in African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) and the unique appendicular phenotype of naked mole-rats.

ABSTRACT: Life underground has constrained the evolution of subterranean mammals to maximize digging performance. However, the mechanisms modulating morphological change and development of fossorial adaptations in such taxa are still poorly known. We assessed the morpho-functional diversity and early postnatal development of fossorial adaptations (bone superstructures) in the appendicular system of the African mole-rats (Bathyergidae), a highly specialized subterranean rodent family. Although bathyergids can use claws or incisors for digging, all genera presented highly specialized bone superstructures associated with scratch-digging behavior. Surprisingly, Heterocephalus glaber differed substantially from other bathyergids, and from fossorial mammals by possessing a less specialized humerus, tibia

SUBMITTER: Montoya-Sanhueza G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9159980 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature