The Biology of the Naked Mole-Rat (Monographs in Behavior and Ecology) (Hardcover)

by Paul W. Sherman (Author), Jennifer U. M. Jarvis (Author), Richard D. Alexander (Author)

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Product Description
This volume brings together more than a decade of information collected in the field and lab on the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), a northeast African mammal unique for its physical characteristics and eusociality. Nearly blind and virtually hairless, naked mole-rats inhabit large subterranean colonies in which only one female and her one to three mates conceive offspring, while the young from previous litters maintain and defend the group as do workers in colonies of the social insects. In this first major treatise on naked mole-rats an international group of researchers covers such topics as the evolution of eusociality, phylogeny and systematics of the rodent family Bathyergidae, population and behavioral ecology and genetics of naked mole-rats in the field, vocal and nonvocal behaviors, social organization and divisions of labor within colonies, and climatic, social, and physiological factors affecting growth, reproduction, and reproductive suppression. In addition to the editors, the contributors are D. H. Abbott, M. W. Allard, N. C. Bennett, R. A. Brett, S. H. Braude, B. Crespi, S. V. Edwards, C. G. Faulkes, L. M. George, R. L. Honeycutt, E. A. Lacey, C. E. Liddell, E. McDaid, K. Nelson, K. M. Noonan, J. O'Riain, J. W. Pepper, H. K. Reeve, and D. A. Schlitter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 536 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (March 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691085854
• ISBN-13: 978-0691085852
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,567,892 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars predictive evolutionary theory, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

This is a very important book in that it describes one of the most interesting mammals ever discovered: the first eusocial mammal. It is also a testament to the remarkable ability of adaptationist thinking (reverse engineering) to develop ideas that can then be looked for in nature. The existence of the naked mole rat's unique social structure was predicted based on ideas about the general selective environment that was thought to have led to eusociality in other animals.