African mole-rats are a unique taxon of subterranean rodents that range in sociality from solitary-dwelling species to two "eusocial" species, the Damaraland mole-rat and the naked mole-rat. The naked mole-rat is arguably the closest that a mammal comes to behaving like social insects such as bees and termites, with large colonies and a behavioral and reproductive division of labor. As a family, the Bathyergidae represent a model system with which to study the evolution and maintenance of highly social cooperative breeding strategies. In this book, Nigel Bennett and Chris Faulkes provide a synthesis of the current knowledge of bathyergid systematics, ecology, reproductive biology, behavior, and genetics. They explore the role of these factors in the evolution of sociality in the Bathyergidae in the context of both vertebrates and invertebrates. This volume will be an important new resource for anyone interested in the evolution of sociality, specifically in mole-rats.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Although the authors present solid scientific information complete with copious high quality tables and graphs, their writing style is such as to engage nonprofessionals as well as those doing research on mole-rats. Their book should be in libraries of colleges and universities, particularly those emphasizing ecology, vertebrate biology, evolution, and animal behavior." Choice
"African Mole-Rats is a must for research libraries and individuals intrigued with the ecology, evolution, and elaboration of social life." Quarterly Review of Biology
"This book is valuable to all of us interested in evolution of social behavior for its comprehensive references on the African mole-rats and it has the advantage over an edited volume of being clearly organized and having consistent style. African mole-rats, ecology and eusociality is an excellent review of the Bathyergidae and a well-crafted arguement in support of the AFDH." Ethology
"African Mole-Rats is a must for research libraries and individuals intrigued with the ecology, evolution, and elaboration of social life." Quarterly Review of Biology
"This book is valuable to all of us interested in evolution of social behavior for its comprehensive references on the African mole-rats and it has the advantage over an edited volume of being clearly organized and having consistent style. African mole-rats, ecology and eusociality is an excellent review of the Bathyergidae and a well-crafted arguement in support of the AFDH." Ethology
Book Description
African mole-rats are a unique group of subterranean rodents in which some species show complex insect-like social behaviour and reproductive strategies. This book brings together more than two decades of research on their ecology, behaviour and genetics from the field and laboratory. Examining how the field has moved on since publication of the seminal early 90s volume on Naked Mole-Rats, it explores how these species can help us to understand how complex social behaviour has evolved. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution of behaviour.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A great comparative analysis of these curious animals,
This review is from: African Mole-Rats: Ecology and Eusociality (Hardcover)
As a fellow mole-rat researcher, I found this book to be an extremely valuable resource for information on all of the Bathyergidae rodents. From phylogenetic analysis to an interspecies comparison of sociality, Bennett and Faulkes cover all of the relevant topics and provide an extensive summary of all of the relevant literature. Mole-rats are an excellent group of animals for studying mammalian social behavior and cooperative breeding. This book is a must buy for anyone interested in mole-rats or even animal social behavior for that matter.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The phenomenon of eusociality has interested biologists since Darwin first puzzled over, and elegantly explained, how it may evolve by natural selection (Darwin, 1859). Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
social bathyergids, bathyergid species, geophyte density, solitary subterranean rodents, hottentotus hottentotus, other bathyergids, geophyte densities, solitary bathyergids, optimal reproductive skew, other subterranean rodents, luteinised unruptured follicles, larger geophytes, infrequent workers, foraging burrows, subterranean niche, cooperatively breeding vertebrates, gemsbok cucumbers, aerial vegetation, colony biomass, skew theory, ehrenbergi superspecies, reproductive suppression, social genera, seismic communication, staying incentives Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mtito Andei, South Africa, Somerset West, Cape Province, Old World, Royal Island, Tim Jackson, Van Couvering, New World, South America, Biological Sciences, Colonies Lerata, Mendel's Laws, Oddballs Island, Western Cape Fynbos New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The phenomenon of eusociality has interested biologists since Darwin first puzzled over, and elegantly explained, how it may evolve by natural selection (Darwin, 1859). Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
social bathyergids, bathyergid species, geophyte density, solitary subterranean rodents, hottentotus hottentotus, other bathyergids, geophyte densities, solitary bathyergids, optimal reproductive skew, other subterranean rodents, luteinised unruptured follicles, larger geophytes, infrequent workers, foraging burrows, subterranean niche, cooperatively breeding vertebrates, gemsbok cucumbers, aerial vegetation, colony biomass, skew theory, ehrenbergi superspecies, reproductive suppression, social genera, seismic communication, staying incentives Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mtito Andei, South Africa, Somerset West, Cape Province, Old World, Royal Island, Tim Jackson, Van Couvering, New World, South America, Biological Sciences, Colonies Lerata, Mendel's Laws, Oddballs Island, Western Cape Fynbos New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 27
books:
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book
cites this book:
- The Biology of the Naked Mole-Rat (Monographs in Behavior and Ecology) by Paul W. Sherman on 10 pages
- Cooperative Breeding in Mammals by Nancy G. Solomon on 7 pages
- Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach by J. R Krebs in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Queen Number and Sociality in Insects (Oxford Science Publications) by Laurent Keller in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author by Richard Dawkins on page 155, and Back Matter
See all 27 books this book cites
- Ecology and Evolution of Cooperative Breeding in Birds by Walter D. Koenig in Back Matter
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