2022/53/1
ISSN : 0024-7774 (print), 1804-6460 (online)
Vedoucí redaktor : Benda Petr
Vedoucí redaktor : Benda Petr
Genome coding and noncoding structure function and evolution in Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies and Hordeum spontaneum in Israel: a review (Rodentia: Spalacidae)
Eviatar Nevo
The structure and function of the intergenic noncoding genome (repeatome) whether “selfish” and “junk” or “biochemically functional and regulatory” is still hotly debated, despite the mounting empirical and theoretical evidence supporting the regulatory role, provided by transposable elements, and…
Seasonality of reproduction in Bathyergidae is a function of group size: A novel hypothesis (Rodentia)
Daniel W. Hart, Nigel C. Bennett
In the African mole-rat family (Bathyergidae), species show both year-round and seasonal breeding patterns even though all species inhabit regions with varying seasonal rainfall patterns (a well-known selection driver of seasonal breeding). This short review suggests a novel hypothesis explaining…
Unexplored aspects of African mole-rat thermal biology: Daily energy expenditure and development of thermoregulation in Fukomys darlingi (Rodentia: Bathyergidae)
Jan Okrouhlík, Milada Zemanová, Pavlína Plánková, Radim Šumbera
In our study, we analyzed two poorly known aspects of thermal biology in subterranean rodents, the African mole-rats, that being daily energy expenditure and development of thermoregulation in juvenile mole-rat using the social Mashona mole-rat, Fukomys darlingi from southern Malawi. We performed…
A review of Fukomys ochraceocinereus, an enigmatic mole-rat from Central Africa (Rodentia: Bathyergidae)
Kai R. Caspar
Although the biology of common mole-rats of the genus Fukomys has been intensively studied over the last three decades, some lineages of this speciose group of subterranean rodents remain virtually unknown to science. One of these poorly studied species is the Central African mole-rat, Fukomys…
Origin and evolution of Heterocephalus from East Africa (Rodentia: Heterocephalidae)
Christiane Denys
Known today by a single species only in the Horn of Africa, rodents of the Heterocephalus genus displayed through Neogene times a larger geographical distribution and a higher diversity. Here we present the state of art of the knowledge of the described fossil Heterocephalus species and follow the…
Analysis of ageing and longevity in African mole-rats – digging deeper than before (Rodentia: Bathyergidae)
Philip Dammann, Sabine Begall, Radim Šumbera
African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) have intrigued gerontologists since extreme longevity and intraspecific divergence in ageing rates were demonstrated in some of their representatives. Although many ageing-related papers on African mole-rat species have been published in the last 20 years, a…
Age-related dynamics of reproductive activity and physical conditions in Cricetidae of different ecological speciation (Rodentia)
Evgenij Anatol’evič Novikov
To understand the evolutionary preconditions of extended longevity, one can compare the key life-history events and age related changes in body conditions in related species with different ecological speciation. Cricetid rodents possessing a wide spectrum of adaptive forms with different life…
Microsatellite DNA variation in Spalacopus cyanus, a social subterranean rodent endemic to Chile (Rodentia: Octodontidae)
Sabine Begall, Rodney L. Honeycutt
We used five polymorphic microsatellite loci to examine patterns of genetic variation within and among colonies of coruros (Spalacopus cyanus) at three localities in central Chile. Detailed comparisons of genetic variation at two locations, Los Maitenes in the northern portion of the species’ range…
Different size of tympanic membranes and its functional and ecomorphological meaning in Crocidurinae and Soricinae (Lipotyphla: Soricidae)
Wolfgang Maier, Peter Pilz, Irina Ruf
Adult skulls of Crocidura russula and Sorex araneus have been studied by μCT and by histology. The virtual representations of these skulls in ventral view display the middle ear structures very clearly. It is evident that the ectotympanic rings, which frame the tympanic membrane, are significantly…
Habitat influence on the evolution of male mating vocalizations in subterranean and surface-dwelling rodents (Rodentia)
Ema Hrouzková, Cristian Eric Schleich
The acoustic adaptation hypothesis (AAH) is often tested between species from open and closed habitats. However, the acoustic differences are rather small and thus the evidence is ambiguous. We tested the AAH between subterranean and surface-dwelling species living in very different acoustic…
On the retinae of Glis and Graphiurus: photoreceptor and ganglion cell populations, an absence of shortwave-sensitive cones, and some other features (Rodentia: Gliridae)
Leo Peichl, Tijana Radic, Irina Solovei, Michael Wolfram, Martin Glösmann
The retina of the fat dormouse Glis glis was studied histologically. Opsin immunolabeling identified an unusually dense population of rod photoreceptors (ca. 600,000–780,000/mm²) and a low-density population of L cone photoreceptors containing the longwave-sensitive (LWS) cone opsin, with a shallow…
Magnetoreception in mammals and birds: a comparison (Mammalia, Aves)
Wolfgang Wiltschko, Roswitha Wiltschko
The magnetic compass systems of birds and mammals differ in their functional modes and are based on different physical principles: The inclination compass of birds is not sensitive to polarity; it is light-dependent; with the direction indicated by spin-chemical processes in the photo-pigment…
Small differences in weak electromagnetic fields disrupt magnetic compass orientation of C57 BL/6 mice (Rodentia: Muridae)
John Phillips, Michael Painter
Studies of learned magnetic compass orientation by C57 BL/6 mice were carried out to determine if responses to magnetic cues were disrupted by exposure to a very low-level (1–2 nT) 1.46 MHz radio frequency field. Findings show that exposure to the same intensity of the 1.46 MHz RF in training and…
Evidence for magnetic orientation in Clethrionomys glareolus in a water maze assay (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
Ludmila Oliveriusová, Monika Nováková, František Sedláček
A long-term issue when studying magnetic orientation is the replicability of the experiments conducted in different laboratories. Attempts to replicate experiments have failed many times. After our previous study where we successfully found magnetoreception in the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus)…
No expression of magnetic compass orientation in Clethrionomys glareolus in total darkness (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
Monika Nováková, Pavel Němec, Ludmila Oliveriusová, František Sedláček
Our knowledge about magnetoreception in mammals remains limited. Among rodents, magnetic compass orientation has been documented in four subterranean mole-rats and four epigeic (i.e., active above ground) species. While it is well established that the magnetic compass of mole-rats is…
Heart attack frequency and geomagnetic field instability (Primates: Hominidae)
Tereza Schimerová, Oldřich Nedvěd
It is believed that the high activity of sun with eruptions causing instability of the magnetic field of the Earth cause various health problems in sensitive people, including such events as heart attack. We analysed the daily frequency of patients admitted with heart attack to the Cardiocentre of…
Spying the dog: Wearable action camera as a tool to understand dog’s behaviour during homing (Carnivora: Canidae)
Kateřina Benediktová, Jana Adámková, Michaela Masilkova, Luděk Bartoš, Lucie Kleprlíková, Jan Svoboda, Miloslav Zikmund, Vlastimil Hart
Automated data collection methods, such as using GPS collars and animal-borne cameras, represent an efficient way of data collection and may be instrumental in the research of animal orientation, including magnetoreception. In this study, we designed a wearable dog action camera (DAC) system for…
Taxonomic position and biogeography of Mus callewaerti, the largest species of the subgenus Nannomys (Rodentia: Muridae)
Ondřej Mikula, Jarmila Krásová, Radim Šumbera, Josef Bryja
The Callewaert’s mouse (Mus callewaerti) is shown as an ancient lineage of the African endemic subgenus Nannomys. Described in 1925 as a large-bodied species with proodont (forward pointing) incisors, it was long known only from a handful of localities in Angola and southern Democratic Republic of…
African bats in the collection of the National Museum, Prague (Chiroptera). I. Bats from Zambia
Petr Benda, Marek Uvizl, Vladimír Mazoch, Jan Šklíba, Jaroslav Červený
A list of 139 specimens of bats belonging to 32 species of eight families originating from Zambia, housed in the collection of the National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic, is presented in a systematical review. The species lists are complemented by comments on distribution and morphometry data. The…
Rhinoceros specimens included in anatomical and morphological studies by Professor Alexander J. E. Cave (Perissodactyla: Rhinocerotidae)
Jan Robovský, Kees Rookmaaker
Alexander James Edward Cave (1900–2001) was a superb anatomist who extensively improved our knowledge of rhinoceros anatomy and osteology; he also published several studies on the osteology of other groups of mammals and one conservation-focused study about numbers of Ceratotherium cottoni in…
Morphology and adaptation of the auricle in Soricidae (Lipotyphla)
Christian Montermann, Rainer Hutterer
Shrews look rather similar at first sight, but a closer look reveals many different specializations according to different lifestyles. In this study, we took a closer look on the auricle of shrews. To reveal morphological adaptations, we analysed the inclination of the outer ear in relation to the…
Cricetinae in the Quaternary fossil record of the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Rodentia: Cricetidae)
Ivan Horáček, Klára Lebedová
The paper surveys the Quaternary (MN17–Q4) fossil record of Cricetinae in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with particular attention to the current glacial cycle (Q4: Vistulian–Holocene) and immediate history of extant taxa. Vast majority of records were reexamined using standardized techniques of…
Verified occurrence of Felis silvestris in Bohemia (Czech Republic) in 2010–2021 (Carnivora: Felidae)
Luděk Bufka, Josefa Volfová, Hana Bednářová, Elisa Belotti, Jan Dzurja, Milena Prokopová, Pavel Jaška, Jana Pospíšková, Jiří Sochor, Vladimír Čech, Tereza Mináriková, Jarmila Krojerová
In total, 616 reliable records (C1, C2 category sensu SCALP) of wildcat occurrence in Bohemia were collected and analysed in 11 monitoring seasons, “wildcat years” (WCY), 2010–2021. Camera-trapping data accounted for 95% of the dataset, the rest of the records were verified by the genetic analysis…
Species on an excursion – Mammals and other faunistic records from 16 years of zoological field trips to the Šumava Mountains and South Bohemia (Czech Republic) under the direction of Hynek Burda
Marcus Schmitt
Between 2001 and 2016, 31 zoological excursions of the Department of General Zoology of the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) took place in South Bohemia (Czech Republic), mainly in the the Šumava Mountains south of Sušice. Under the leadership of Professor Hynek Burda and his colleagues, more…