Ecological constraints drive social evolution in the African mole-rats

Faulkes, C. G., Bennett, N. C., Bruford, Michael William ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6357-6080, O'Brien, H. P., Aguilar, G. H. and Jarvis, J. U. M. 1997. Ecological constraints drive social evolution in the African mole-rats. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 264 (1388) , pp. 1619-1627.

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Abstract

The African mole-rats (family Bathyergidae) are subterranean hystricomorph rodents occurring in a variety of habitats and displaying levels of sociality which range from solitary to eusocial, making them a unique mammalian taxonomic group to test ecological influences on sociality. Here, we use an extensive DNA-based phylogeny and comparative analysis to investigate the relationship between ecology, sociality and evolution within the family. Mitochondrial cytochrome-b and 12s rRNA trees reveal that the solitary species are monophyletic when compared to the social species. The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is ancestral and divergent from the Damaraland mole-rat (Cryptomys damarensis), supporting previous findings that have suggested the multiple evolution of eusociality within the family. The Cryptomys genus is species-rich and contains taxa exhibiting different levels of sociality, which can be divided into two distinct clades. A total of seven independent comparisons were generated within the phylogeny, and three ecological variables were significantly correlated with social group size: geophyte density (p < 0.05), mean months per year of rainfall greater than 25 mm (p < 0.001), and the coefficient of rainfall variation (p = 0.001). These results support the food-aridity hypothesis for the evolution of highly social cooperative behaviour in the Bathyergidae, and are consistent with the current theoretical framework for skew theory.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Biosciences Sustainable Places Research Institute (PLACES)
Publisher:	Royal Society
ISSN:	0962-8452
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2024 02:57
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/65167

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