Light perception in ‘blind’ subterranean Zambian mole-rats
Section snippets
Study Animals
We tested 70 adult pairs of Zambian mole-rats of the two closely related Fukomys species F. anselli (N = 32) and F. kafuensis (N = 13), as well as their hybrids (N = 25), for spontaneous reactions to light to examine whether the animals prefer dark or light boxes to build their nests. Animals were chosen independently of their species, i.e. randomly. The mole-rats were housed at ambient room temperature and under natural daylight in glass cages of various sizes (minimum: 60 × 35 cm and 35 cm high) filled
Experiment 1
In the two-choice test chamber, the mole-rats showed clear heliophobic behaviour towards the halogen light stimulus and significantly preferred the dark box (=scotophilia) for nesting (chi-square test: , N = 20, P = 0.002; Fig. 1).
Mean temperatures did not differ between the lit (23.83 ± 0.76°C, N = 8) and the shaded box (23.95 ± 0.66°C, N = 8; paired t test: t7 = −0.63, P = 0.548).
In the controls, the mole-rats nested in the circular centre around the inserted smaller cylinder, designed to prevent them
Discussion
Our study gives ethological support for the assumption made on the basis of recent morphological findings (Oelschläger et al., 2000, Cernuda-Cernuda et al., 2003, Němec et al., 2004, Peichl et al., 2004) that Fukomys mole-rats can perceive light and that they can use light-encoded information to make a decision. However, the adaptive meaning of this ability is far from clear. Fukomys mole-rats do not flee from light in panic. Under our housing conditions, they sleep uncovered on the surface,
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by DFG BU-717/10 and the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic 206/03/0638. S.B. was funded by the Lise-Meitner-Habilitationsprogramm. We are grateful to G. Hammann and Ch. Wittmann for technical support and to E. Warrant for comments on the experimental set-up. We greatly appreciate constructive comments on the manuscript by J. Todrank and an anonymous referee.
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