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Osmoregulation in African mole-rats : an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family
Dissertation (MSc (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2023.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2023
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| _version_ | 1867613492397211648 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Bennett, Nigel Charles |
| author_browse | Bennett, Nigel Charles |
| author_facet | Bennett, Nigel Charles |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MSc (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2023. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/93577 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:00.236Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/93577 Osmoregulation in African mole-rats : an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family Bennett, Nigel Charles u15028382@tuks.co.za Hart, Daniel William Van Dyk, Monique UCTD Group-living Kidney Gastrointestinal tract Urine concentration Faecal dehydration Medulla-cortex ratio Aridity Sociality Osmoregulation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SDG-13: Climate action Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-13 SDG-15: Life on land Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-15 Dissertation (MSc (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2023. Subterranean mammals inhabit and thrive over a range of environmental aridities and, as such, are exposed to varying water availability, which they obtain through their diet of underground geophyte storage organs. Evolutionary studies have conclusively shown that kidney and gastrointestinal tract adaptations have enabled increased water absorption under water stress events such as those experienced by small mammals living in arid environments. This chapter attempted to uncover if the subterranean African mole-rat family, the Bathyergidae, possessed the predicted kidney and gastrointestinal tract adaptations in response to their experienced aridity. Unlike terrestrial living small mammal species, African mole-rats, regardless of the aridity they experience, possess similar capabilities of saving water due to comparable urine concentrating and faecal dehydrating abilities likely as a consequence of the similar morphological and anatomical structures of their kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. This strongly supports the Behavioural Osmoregulation Hypothesis, which posits that group-living, instead of kidney and gastrointestinal tract adaptations, has allowed some African mole-rats species to persist in arid environments. Furthermore, this chapter suggests that the capacity of a mammal to become social may lead to a social buffering effect against desertification due to climate change. DST-NRF SARCHI Chair of Mammal Behavioral Ecology and Physiology (# 64796) NRF Zoology and Entomology MSc (Zoology) Restricted Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences 2023-12-01T05:28:34Z 2023-12-01T05:28:34Z 2023-11-23 2023 Dissertation * A2024 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/93577 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.24540223 en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Group-living Kidney Gastrointestinal tract Urine concentration Faecal dehydration Medulla-cortex ratio Aridity Sociality Osmoregulation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SDG-13: Climate action Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-13 SDG-15: Life on land Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-15 Osmoregulation in African mole-rats : an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family |
| title | Osmoregulation in African mole-rats : an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family |
| title_full | Osmoregulation in African mole-rats : an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family |
| title_fullStr | Osmoregulation in African mole-rats : an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family |
| title_full_unstemmed | Osmoregulation in African mole-rats : an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family |
| title_short | Osmoregulation in African mole-rats : an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family |
| title_sort | osmoregulation in african mole rats an evaluation of water retention abilities in a subterranean rodent family |
| topic | UCTD Group-living Kidney Gastrointestinal tract Urine concentration Faecal dehydration Medulla-cortex ratio Aridity Sociality Osmoregulation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) SDG-13: Climate action Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-13 SDG-15: Life on land Natural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-15 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/93577 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.24540223 |