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

该项目旨在更好地了解Bathyergidae家族成员如何适应其特定的当地环境生态位的表型变异和潜在遗传学。通过研究隐翅虫属内的5个种，以及同一物种在其活动范围的不同部分的种群，我们可以调查与该种群所处的宏观和微观环境的变化相比，存在哪些种/种群水平的生理和形态适应。通过调查不同区域的降雨量、海拔高度、食物可获得性、温度和土壤组成等生态差异，我们将比较物种和不同种群对当地环境的生理和形态适应，以及是否在遗传水平上发现这种差异，以了解持续存在的进化模式。这将通过在南非对圈养和野生动物进行实地研究，并通过使用博物馆标本来观察代谢率、对温度变化的反应、形态计量学(对活体动物、现存的博物馆标本以及潜在的化石数据)以及对血红蛋白基因和热休克蛋白基因以及全基因组SNPs的遗传和基因组分析来进行。

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.