Mashona Gray Mull

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Mashona Gray Mull
Systematics
Order : Rodents (Rodentia)
Subordination : Porcupine relatives (Hystricomorpha)
Partial order : Hystricognathi
Family : Sand graves (Bathyergidae)
Genre : Gray Owl ( Fukomys )
Type : Mashona Gray Mull
Scientific name
Fukomys darlingi
( Thomas , 1895)

The Mashona-Graumull or Darlings Graumull ( Fukomys darlingi , Syn. : Cryptomys darlingi ) is a type of fukomys ( Fukomys ) within the blesmol (Bathyergidae). Like other gray moulins, it is adapted to an underground and burrowing way of life. The species is distributed in southern Africa in the north and east of Zimbabwe and in central Mozambique .

features

The Mashona gray mull reaches a head-trunk length of 12.5 to 16.5 centimeters with a weight of 54 to 92 grams, the tail is very short with 0.8 to 1.3 centimeters in length. The males are on average slightly larger than the females, the sexually active females can become a little heavier. The medium-sized species has a brown, iron or silver-gray to brown-black fur and a conspicuous white head markings. The fur is short and thick, individual feeler hairs protrude from this, especially in the head area. On the ventral side there is a white stripe or at least an elongated spot of variable length. The head is blunt, the front incisor teeth are not furrowed and protrude beyond the lips, so they are visible from the outside even when the mouth is closed. The eyes are very small, external ears are missing. The fore and hind feet are hairless and pink in color. The tail is very short and reaches a maximum of 7% of the head-trunk length, it is naked and covered with individual hard feeler bristles. The fur of young animals is generally darker than that of adult animals. The females have two pairs of teats in the breast and one in the lumbar region, for a total of six teats. The penis of the males is covered by skin, the animals have no drooping testicles. In non-sexually active females, the vagina is closed.

The skull is broad with a large and rounded skull. The infraorbital windows are comparatively small and tear-shaped. The chromosome set consists of 2n = 54 (FN = 80) chromosomes.

From the closely related Damara gray mullet ( Fukomys damarensis ), the Mashona gray mullet differs in its slightly lighter color and smaller average size, as well as genetic features such as the lower number of chromosomes.

distribution

The Mashona gray mull is widespread in southern Africa in the north and east of Zimbabwe and in central Mozambique , the area being mainly limited to the Mashonaland plateau. The exact limits of the distribution area are unknown, but it is not assumed that it occurs in Malawi .

Way of life

The sites are typically in the Miombo forest areas with a predominance of Brachystegia and Julbernardia , as well as in bushes, meadows and in agricultural areas. The soils are moderately moist and the annual rainfall averages around 700 millimeters. Like other gray mulls, this species also lives largely underground in colonies of five to nine animals with a slight majority of males. The groups are social family associations with one pair of parents and the offspring of several litters. They dig burrows in the area of ​​vegetation and feed herbivore on thickened roots, tubers and other parts of plants. The underground activity has a daily rhythm and the animals can differentiate between light and dark times. Their metabolic rate and their body temperature of around 33.5 ° C are comparatively low.

A couple capable of mating lives in the colony, the rest of the animals in the colony are sexually inactive. As with the naked mole rat , the reproductive ability of the female is actively suppressed by the sexually active female. There is no fixed mating and breeding season, young animals can be born throughout the year. The dominant female has offspring up to three or four times a year. During the ovulation period there are numerous copulations between the parents. The gestation period is about 56 to 61 days, the typical litter size consists of one to three young animals. The sex ratio of the young is balanced at birth. The young are naked at birth and are born weighing 6.9 to 8.1 grams. The fur grows on the fourth day after birth, the eyes are opened around day 14, when the animals are also given solid food for the first time. You will be breastfed until day 45.

Systematics

The Mashona gray mull is classified as an independent species within the genus of the gray mull ( Fukomys ), which consists of ten to fourteen species. The first scientific description comes from Oldfield Thomas from 1895 as Georychus darlingi and was based on individuals from the region of what was then Salisbury, today Harare in Zimbabwe, from Mazowe from a height of about 5000 feet (about 1520 meters). Thomas received collections from Irish collector James Ffoliott Darling and Guy AK Marshall , each containing two individuals of the species. He named the species after Darling, but chose a type from Marshall's collection to describe it . The species was assigned to the African gray bull ( Cryptomys hottentotus ) as a subspecies by John Ellerman in 1953 , but has been viewed as an independent species again since the mid-2000s due to specific characteristics. In 2006 the genus Cryptomys was separated into two genus based on molecular biological characteristics, the Mashona-Graumul was assigned to the new genus Fukomys with most of the other species , but the split is not generally accepted.

Apart from the nominate form, no subspecies are distinguished within the species .

Status, threat and protection

The Mashona gray mull is classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This is justified with the frequent occurrence and the comparatively large distribution area. The species is also found in some protected areas and there are no risks to the population. The animals are viewed regionally as pests and are fought against; unlike related species, they are not collected as a source of meat.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j R. L. Honeycutt: Mashona Mole-rat - Fukomys darlingi. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editors): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016; P. 370. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Nigel C. Bennett: Cryptomys darlingi - Darling's Mole-Rat (Mashona Mole-Rat) In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina ( Ed.): Mammals of Africa Volume III. Rodents, Hares and Rabbits. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 653-654; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .
  3. ↑ a b c Fukomys darlingi in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.2. Posted by: S. Maree, C. Faulkes, F. Cotterill, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  4. ^ "Darling." In: Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; P. 99; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 .
  5. ↑ Oldfield Thomas : On African mole-rats of the Genera Georychus and Myoscalops. 1. A new species of Georychus from Mashonaland The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology 16 (6), 1895; Pp. 238-241. ( Digitized version )
  6. ↑ Colleen M. Ingram, Hynek Burda, Rodney L. Honeycutt: Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of the African mole-rats, genus Cryptomys and the new genus Coetomys Gray, 1864. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31 (3), 2004; Pp. 997-1014. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2003.11.004
  7. ↑ Dieter Kock, Colleen M. Ingram, Lawrence J. Frabotta, Rodney L. Honeycutt, Hynek Burda: On the nomenclature of Bathyergidae and Fukomys n. Gen. (Mammalia: Rodentia). Zootaxa 1142, 2006; Pp. 51-55.
  8. ↑ Cryptomys darlingi . In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .

literature

  • RL Honeycutt: Mashona Mole-rat - Fukomys darlingi. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editors): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016; P. 370. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  • Nigel C. Bennett: Cryptomys darlingi - Darling's Mole-Rat (Mashona Mole-Rat) In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume III. Rodents, Hares and Rabbits. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 653-654; ISBN 978-1-4081-2253-2 .

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