Pattern of ovulation in an ancient, solitary mole-rat lineage : Heliophobius argenteocinereus emini from Tanzania

dc.contributor.authorKatandukila, Jestina Venance
dc.contributor.authorNgalameno, Mungo K.
dc.contributor.authorMgode, Georgies Frank
dc.contributor.authorBastos, Armanda D.S.
dc.contributor.authorBennett, Nigel Charles
dc.contributor.emailncbennett@zoology.up.ac.zaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-11-15T06:18:36Z
dc.date.available2017-11-15T06:18:36Z
dc.date.issued2017-10
dc.description.abstractThe genus Heliophobius Peters, 1846 is an ancient subterranean rodent lineage within the family Bathyergidae that displays seasonal breeding over a broad geographical range. In East Africa, reproduction in these solitary mole-rats has been shown to coincide with the long rains, but it is not clear whether the silvery mole-rat subspecies Heliophobius argenteocinereus emini Noack, 1894 from Tanzania is an induced or spontaneous ovulator. To address this, urinary progesterone was measured every second day over a period of 132 days in six wild-caught females subjected to three sequential experimental treatments. In the first, control (C) treatment, females were housed singly for a period of 44 days, following which nonphysical contact (NPC) with a vasectomised male and then physical contact (PC) with the same vasectomised male occurred in each of the subsequent 44-day treatments. Noninvasive monitoring of ovarian cyclicity confirmed that mean urinary progesterone concentration was higher during PC than during either NPC or C, despite the fact that the males were vasectomised and incapable of fertilising the females. Examination of penile morphology revealed that males possess epidermal projections on the glans penis, which probably bring about cervical stimulation during coitus. These findings together with the female progesterone profiles imply the species is an induced ovulator stimulated by penile intromission.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Instituteen_ZA
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomologyen_ZA
dc.description.librarianhj2017en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe University of Pretoria (International UP Funds). The South African Research Chair of Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology from the DST-NRF to N.C.B.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/cjzen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationKatandukila, J.V., Ngalameno, M.K., Mgode, G.F., Bastos, A.D.S. & Bennett, N.C. 2017, 'Pattern of ovulation in an ancient, solitary mole-rat lineage: Heliophobius argenteocinereus emini from Tanzania', Canadian Journal of Zoology, vol. 95, no. 10, pp. 737-743.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0008-4301 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1480-3283 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1139/cjz-2016-0292
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/63159
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherNRC Research Pressen_ZA
dc.rights© 2017, Canadian Science Publishing. All rights reserved.en_ZA
dc.subjectCoitusen_ZA
dc.subjectHeliophobiusen_ZA
dc.subjectOvulationen_ZA
dc.subjectPenile spinesen_ZA
dc.subjectBathyergidaeen_ZA
dc.subjectGlansen_ZA
dc.subjectHeliophobius argenteocinereusen_ZA
dc.subjectRattusen_ZA
dc.subjectRodentiaen_ZA
dc.subjectProgesteroneen_ZA
dc.titlePattern of ovulation in an ancient, solitary mole-rat lineage : Heliophobius argenteocinereus emini from Tanzaniaen_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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