African Mole-Rats: Ecology and Eusociality

by Nigel C. Bennett , Chris G. Faulkes , Foreword by Jennifer Jarvis

• ISBN13: 9780521771993
• ISBN10: 0521771994
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

African mole-rats are a unique taxon of subterranean rodents that range in sociality from solitary-dwelling species to two "eusocial" species, the Damaraland mole-rat and the naked mole-rat. The naked mole-rat is arguably the closest that a mammal comes to behaving like social insects such as bees and termites, with large colonies and a behavioral and reproductive division of labor. As a family, the Bathyergidae represent a model system with which to study the evolution and maintenance of highly social cooperative breeding strategies. In this book, Nigel Bennett and Chris Faulkes provide a synthesis of the current knowledge of bathyergid systematics, ecology, reproductive biology, behavior, and genetics. They explore the role of these factors in the evolution of sociality in the Bathyergidae in the context of both vertebrates and invertebrates. This volume will be an important new resource for anyone interested in the evolution of sociality, specifically in mole-rats.

Author Biography

Nigel C. Bennett is Professor of Zoology in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa Chris G. Faulkes is Lecturer in Molecular Ecology and Evolution in the School of Biological Sciences at Queen Mary and Westifield College, University of London

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction to the Bathyergidae

2. The subterranean niche

3. The food resource of African Mole-Rats

4. Social organisation in African Mole-Rats

5. Life history patterns and reproductive biology

6. Social suppression of reproduction in African Mole-Rats

7. The genetic structure of Mole-Rat populations

8. The evolution of sociality on African Mole-Rats

References

Index.