Inter- and intra-specific plasticity in response to local and induced environments in Bathyergid mole-rats

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project aims to better understand the phenotypic variations and underlying genetics of how members of the Bathyergidae family are adapted to their specific local environmental niches. By studying the 5 species within the genus Cryptomys, and populations of the same species within different parts of their ranges, we can investigate what species/population-level physiological and morphological adaptations exist compared to the variety of macro- and micro-level environments that this group inhabit. By investigating ecological differences such as rainfall, altitude, food availability, temperature and soil composition over their respective ranges, we will compare the physiological and morphological adaptations of species and different populations to their local environment, and whether this is found at the genetic level, to understand the evolutionary patterns that persist. This will be carried out through field work in South Africa on both captive and wild animals, and through the use of museum specimens, to look at metabolic rates, responses to temperature changes, morphometrics (on live animals, extant museum specimens as well as potentially fossil data), and genetic and genomic analyses of haemoglobin genes and heat shock protein genes, and genome wide SNPs.