Jan Skliba

University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice · Faculty of Science

Fossorial mammals are supposed to face hypoxic and hypercarpnic conditions, but such conditions have been rarely encountered in their natural burrow systems. Gas composition in burrows after heavy rains, deeper burrows and especially nest chambers, where animals usually spend most of the day, could be even more challenging than in shallow burrows....

The giant root-rat of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia has been reported to have a mutualistic relationship with a passerine, which involves eavesdropping on its alarm call. We tested this in a field playback experiment. Besides the alarm call, we included two sounds potentially acting as alarm cues and one as a control. Little reaction of root-rats wa...

Mammalian space‐use patterns are largely determined by the resources utilized as well as by given habitat characteristics, as can be illustrated by rodents displaying predominantly subterranean activity. These rodents are largely limited in their use of space by their burrow systems. This results in smaller home ranges than is usual for rodents of...

We analysed seismic signals in two spalacid rodents with a different degree of fossoriality: the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) and the Gansu zokor (Eospalax cansus). As all hitherto studied spalacids they also produce seismic signals by head-thumping, which probably evolved as a ritualization of soil tampering. The seismic signal of g...

Animals become adapted to different habitats, which, under some circumstances, may lead to speciation. Such speciation can possibly take place even in sympatry, as has recently been suggested in the blind mole rat Spalax galili surveyed at a microsite where two soil types of ecologically contrasting characteristics, basaltic soil and rendzina soil,...

Rodents adjust their activity to environmental conditions. The adjustment can be especially pronounced in climatically challenging environments. We studied activity patterns in the free-living giant root rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), a large fossorial rodent endemic to the Afro-alpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia, by means of radio...

Eusocial species of African mole-rats live in groups cooperating on multiple tasks and employing division of labour. In captivity, individuals of the same group differ in cooperative contribution as well as in preference for a particular task. Both can be viewed as polyethism. However, little information is available from free-ranging mole-rats, wh...

Rodents with prevailing subterranean activity usually play an important role in the ecosystems of which they are a part due to the combined effect of herbivory and soil perturbation. This is also the case of the giant root-rat Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, Rüppell 1842, endemic to the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. We studied t...

Frogs are known to occasionally utilize the burrow systems of subterranean rodents, but this phenomenon has previously attracted little attention. We recorded frogs in burrows and in/under the molehills of three African mole-rat species (Bathyergidae, Rodentia) during burrow system mapping in Malawi and Zambia during the dry season. Eight frog spec...

Subterranean rodents forage underground, which is energetically costly. Therefore, they can be expected to economize burrowing activity in response to food supply and soil characteristics. We analyzed the activity of radio-tracked blind mole rats, Spalax galili, on a locality sharply subdivided into harder but relatively food-rich, basaltic soil an...

A costly search for food in subterranean rodents resulted in various adaptations improving their foraging success under given ecological conditions. In Spalax ehrenbergi superspe-cies, adaptations to local ecological conditions can promote speciation, which was recently supposed to occur even in sympatry at sites where two soil types of contrasting...

Predictable daily activity patterns have been detected repeatedly even in mammals living in stable environments, as is the case for subterranean rodents. Whereas studies on activity of these rodents under laboratory conditions almost exclusively have concerned themselves with the influence of light, many field studies have revealed signs of an asso...

To better understand evolutionary pathways leading to eusociality, interspecific comparisons are needed, which would use a common axis, such as that of reproductive skew, to array species. African mole-rats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia) provide an outstanding model of social evolution because of a wide range of social organizations within a single famil...

Despite the considerable attention devoted to the biology of social species of African mole-rats (Bathyergidae, Rodentia), knowledge is lacking about their behaviour under natural conditions. We studied activity of the largest social bathyergid, the giant mole-rat Fukomys mechowii, in its natural habitat in Zambia using radio-telemetry. We radio-tr...

Sympatric speciation has been controversial since it was first proposed as a mode of speciation. Subterranean blind mole rats (Spalacidae) are considered to speciate allopatrically or peripatrically. Here, we report a possible incipient sympatric adaptive ecological speciation in Spalax galili (2n = 52). The study microsite (0.04 km(2)) is sharply...

The taxonomy and distribution of rodents in Zambia was comprehensively summarized in 1978 by W.F.H. Ansell in his excellent book Mammals of Zambia. Despite the fact that during the last three decades many new taxonomic revisions of African rodents were published and extensive new material collected, not much work has been done on Zambian rodents si...

The Ansell's mole-rat (Fukomys anselli, Bathyergidae) is a small-sized social subterranean rodent whose distribution is confined to the Lusaka area in Zambia. It is an established model species for various laboratory studies, but until now the knowledge of its biology under natural conditions has been limited. Here, we provide the first comprehensi...

Among African mole-rats, the giant mole-rat Fukomys mechowii is the largest social species. Despite several attempts to study a free-living population, information on its biology from natural habitats is very scarce. We mapped two neighbouring burrow systems of the giant mole-rat in a miombo woodland in Zambia. We provide information on the size an...

African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) are subterranean rodents with diverse social systems, which range from solitary to highly cooperative. The social systems are thought to reflect ecological conditions. We examined ecological characteristics in habitats occupied by two mole-rat species with different social systems in an area of sympatry in the Nyika...

The African mole rats (Bathyergidae) is a rodent family unique for subterranean life and diverse social systems. Solitary species are thought to be confined to areas with abundant, evenly distributed food resources and easily workable soils, which favors early natal dispersal and independent reproduction. However, there is a paucity of empirical da...

In seasonal climatic regimes, animals have to deal with changing environmental conditions. It is reasonable to expect that seasonal changes are reflected in animal overall energetics. The relation between daily energy expenditure (DEE) and seasonally variable ecological determinants has been studied in many free-living small mammals; however with i...

Subterranean rodents continuously extend their burrow systems primarily in search of food, which has an important impact on the ecosystem in which they live. Excavated soil may be pushed either into aboveground mounds or into tunnels underground. Factors affecting the amount of burrowing and the preference of aboveground or underground soil deposit...

Despite an important role of subterranean rodents as ecosystem engineers, their belowground mobility is poorly documented. It is supposed that their underground burrow systems, once established, are relatively stable because of high-energy costs of digging. We chose the silvery mole-rat, Heliophobius argenteocinereus (Bathyergidae, Rodentia) from m...

The silvery mole-rat Heliophobius argenteocinereus (Bathyergidae) is a solitary subterranean rodent, widely distributed throughout eastern and south-eastern Africa in a variety of habitats. Here, we provide the first data on its biology in a typical natural habitat, the Brachystegia woodland. The population density of mole-rats was low (4.6 ha−1) a...

The subterranean ecotope, particularly in tropical regions, is almost free of daily fluctuations in environmental factors that may serve as Zeitgebers. The question arises as to whether there is circadian periodicity in the activity of its permanent inhabitants and, if so, how it is induced and maintained. We used radiotelemetry to follow the activ...

We investigated reactions of free-living silvery mole-rats (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) to anthropogenic disturbances. Mole-rats detected soil vibrations caused by man carefully walking at a distance of up to 6m (proved by radio-telemetry). Occasionally, mole-rats encountered outside a nest retreated there after this type of disturbance. After h...

Aims To test that intruders' visits are goal-directed, not just a by-product of extended spatial activity during daylight hours. Methods Using radiotelemetry, we sampled a total of 20 three-day home ranges from 11 tagged males. We recorded daily vocal activity and used a permutation test to see if the movements of tracked males were independent of...

During two breeding seasons (1999, 2000), the occurrence of calling males of the Corncrake was investigated in a 260-ha study area in the ·umava mountains, where 170 ha were covered by various meadow habitats. Of the total of approximately 25 males, 13 were captured and radio-tracked for periods of 3 days. 20 three-day home ranges were studied in 1...