Bennett, Nigel Charles2023-12-012023-12-012023-11-232023*A2024http://hdl.handle.net/2263/93577Dissertation (MSc (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2023.Subterranean mammals inhabit and thrive over a range of environmental aridities and, as such, are exposed to varying water availability, which they obtain through their diet of underground geophyte storage organs. Evolutionary studies have conclusively shown that kidney and gastrointestinal tract adaptations have enabled increased water absorption under water stress events such as those experienced by small mammals living in arid environments. This chapter attempted to uncover if the subterranean African mole-rat family, the Bathyergidae, possessed the predicted kidney and gastrointestinal tract adaptations in response to their experienced aridity. Unlike terrestrial living small mammal species, African mole-rats, regardless of the aridity they experience, possess similar capabilities of saving water due to comparable urine concentrating and faecal dehydrating abilities likely as a consequence of the similar morphological and anatomical structures of their kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. This strongly supports the Behavioural Osmoregulation Hypothesis, which posits that group-living, instead of kidney and gastrointestinal tract adaptations, has allowed some African mole-rats species to persist in arid environments. Furthermore, this chapter suggests that the capacity of a mammal to become social may lead to a social buffering effect against desertification due to climate change.en© 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.UCTDGroup-livingKidneyGastrointestinal tractUrine concentrationFaecal dehydrationMedulla-cortex ratioAriditySocialityOsmoregulationSustainable Development Goals (SDGs)SDG-13: Climate actionNatural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-13SDG-15: Life on landNatural and agricultural sciences theses SDG-15Dissertationu15028382https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.24540223