ArticlePloS one2016
Ear Structures of the Naked Mole-Rat, Heterocephalus glaber, and Its Relatives (Rodentia: Bathyergidae).
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 52 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anatomical, Histological, and Morphometrical Features of the Auditory Ossicles in Dog Fetuses at 55-56 Days of Gestation.Veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Adaptation in the Avian Middle Ear-The Columellar Annular Ligament in Aquatic and Diving Birds.Journal of morphology · 2026Article
- The Ear in Subterranean Rodents Revisited: Cochlear Hair-Cell Populations in African Mole-Rats (Bathyergidae).Journal of morphology · 2025Article
- Semicircular canal morphology in Rodentia and its relationship to locomotion.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
- African Mole-Rats May Have High Bone Conduction Sensitivity to Counterbalance Low Air Conduction Sensitivity.Audiology research · 2025Review
- Morphological, Histological and Morphometrical Aspects of Auditory Ossicles in Pig Fetuses (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- An almost complete cranium ofSwiss journal of palaeontology · 2025Article
- Anatomical and morphometrical approaches on the auditory ossicles in European ground squirrel (Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Convergent evolution in Afrotheria and non-afrotherians demonstrates high evolvability of the mammalian inner ear.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Auditory brainstem development of naked mole-rats (Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Fossorial adaptations in African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) and the unique appendicular phenotype of naked mole-rats.Communications biology · 2022Article
- The naked truth: a comprehensive clarification and classification of current 'myths' in naked mole-rat biology.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2022Review
- Functional, Morphological, and Evolutionary Characterization of Hearing in Subterranean, Eusocial African Mole-Rats.Current biology : CB · 2020Article
- Functional anatomy of the middle and inner ears of the red fox, in comparison to domestic dogs and cats.Journal of anatomy · 2020Article
- The middle ear of the pink fairy armadillo Chlamyphorus truncatus (Xenarthra, Cingulata, Chlamyphoridae): comparison with armadillo relatives using computed tomography.Journal of anatomy · 2020Article
- Altered cochlear innervation in developing and mature naked and Damaraland mole rats.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2019Article
- The Naked Mole-Rat: An Unusual Organism with an Unexpected Latent Potential for Increased Intelligence?Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- Brain atlas of the African mole-rat Fukomys anselli.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2019Article
- Associated tympanic bullar and cochlear hypertrophy define adaptations to true deserts in African gerbils and laminate-toothed rats (Muridae: Gerbillinae and Murinae).Journal of anatomy · 2019Article
- Oldest known multituberculate stapes suggests an asymmetric bicrural pattern as ancestral for Multituberculata.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
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3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
Although increasingly popular as a laboratory species, very little is known about the peripheral auditory system of the naked mole-rat, Heterocephalus glaber. In this study, middle and inner ears of naked mole-rats of a range of ages were examined using micro-computed tomography and dissection. The ears of five other bathyergid species (Bathyergus suillus, Cryptomys hottentotus, Fukomys micklemi, Georychus capensis and Heliophobius argenteocinereus) were examined for comparative purposes. The middle ears of bathyergids show features commonly found in other members of the Ctenohystrica rodent clade, including a fused malleus and incus, a synovial stapedio-vestibular articulation and the loss of the stapedius muscle. Heterocephalus deviates morphologically from the other bathyergids examined in that it has a more complex mastoid cavity structure, poorly-ossified processes of the malleus and incus, a 'columelliform' stapes and fewer cochlear turns. Bathyergids have semicircular canals with unusually wide diameters relative to their radii of curvature. How the lateral semicircular canal reaches the vestibule differs between species. Heterocephalus has much more limited high-frequency hearing than would be predicted from its small ear structures. The spongy bone forming its ossicular processes, the weak incudo-stapedial articulation, the columelliform stapes and (compared to other bathyergids) reduced cochlear coiling are all potentially degenerate features which might reflect a lack of selective pressure on its peripheral auditory system. Substantial intraspecific differences were found in certain middle and inner ear structures, which might also result from relaxed selective pressures. However, such interpretations must be treated with caution in the absence of experimental evidence.
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