ArticleCommunications biology2022
Fossorial adaptations in African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) and the unique appendicular phenotype of naked mole-rats.
Article in Communications biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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6 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- From sagittal to sprawled: Clavicular co-option and the evolution of forelimb mechanics in talpines.Journal of anatomy · 2026Article
- Genomic signatures of subterranean lifestyle and ecological adaptation in Myospalax.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Functional and morphological divergence in the forelimb musculoskeletal system of scratch-digging subterranean mammals (Rodentia: Bathyergidae).Journal of anatomy · 2024Article
- Radiological Anatomy of the Pelvis and Pelvic Limb of the Greater Cane Rat (Veterinary medicine international · 2024Article
- Osteohistology and palaeobiology of giraffids from the Mio-Pliocene Langebaanweg (South Africa).Journal of anatomy · 2023Review
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6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
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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 and fibula. Our data suggest strong functional and developmental constraints driving the selection of limb specializations in most bathyergids, but more relaxed pressures acting on the limbs of H. glaber. A combination of historical, developmental and ecological factors in Heterocephalus are hypothesized to have played important roles in shaping its appendicular phenotype.
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