Maternal behaviour and neonatal development in three species of Namib Desert rodents

Abstract

Gerhillurus paeba paeba, G. tytonis and Pelromyscus collinus inhabit arid areas of southern Africa. Several litters of each species were bred in the laboratory; aspects of maternal behaviour and development of neonates are reported. Pelromyscus collinus has a smaller litter size and the young are less altricial at birth than young of G. paeba or G. tytonis. Gerhillurus tytonis young have the slowest rate of physical and behavioural development, while P. collinus young develop most rapidly. Young of P. collinus nipple‐cling from birth, but those of G. paeba and G. tytonis do not. This dichotomy may be related to phylogeny, mode of locomotion, and/or nesting habits.

Reproduction and postnatal development of the bushveld gerbil Gerbilliscus (formerly Tatera) leucogaster

“…Mean litter size is similar in all species, but sometimes smaller in A. chrysophilus and G. brantsii. Small litter size is often associated with precociality (Meester and Hallett 1970;Neal 1986) and/or nipple-clinging (Brooks 1982;Dempster and Perrin 1989;Neal 1990), which is the case in A. chrysophilus (Brooks 1972). It is unclear why G. brantsii has a smaller litter size than G. leucogaster or G. afra.…”

“…Since size at weaning/independence is indicative of a mammal's ability to cope with its adult niche (Millar 1977), a longer development time may increase the survival rate of juveniles. The welldeveloped hind feet of the Gerbilliscus species represent another potential factor influencing development rate, as a number of studies on other slow-developing rodent species have related their development rates to their well-developed hind limbs and resulting mode of locomotion (Dempster and Perrin 1989). Ascaray and McLachlan (1991) suggest that the slow development of Gerbillurus species may be attributed to the protection of underground nests.…”

Gestation, maternal behaviour, growth and development in the subterranean caviomorph rodent Ctenomys mendocinus (Rodentia, Hystricognathi, Ctenomyidae)

“…Ctenomys mendocinus Begall et al 1999 by Dempster and Perrin ( 1989 ) would all be classifi ed into category 1 of Derrickson's scale. However, Petromyscus attains some physical and behavioural developmental stages before Gerbillus and could be described as less altricial than the Gerbillus species.…”

Postnatal growth and development of the hairy-footed gerbil,Gerbillurus paebae exilis

“…However, G. p. exilis individuals born in the laboratory appeared to be more tolerant of disturbance, and six subsequent litters (21 pups), five of them born to laboratory-reared females, were measured without mortality or overt ill effect. Litter size was 3,5 :±: 1,4 (mean :±: SD) compared to 4,1 recorded by Nel et al (1984) and 4,6 by Dempster & Perrin (1989) for G. p. paeba.…”

“…• To whom correspondence should be addressed The hairy-footed gerbil Gerbillurus paeba exilis is widespread in southern Africa but is difficult to breed in captivity (Smithers 1971;Hallett & Keogh 1971;Stutterheim & Skinner 1973;Nel 1975;Christian 1979;Nel, Rautenbach, Els & De Graaff 1984). The only information thus far available on growth and development of Gerbillurus species in the laboratory is the recent work on G. p. paeba (Dempster & Perrin 1989) and on G. vallinus and G. setzeri (Dempster & Perrin, unpubl.). G. p. exilis is an isolated subspecies confined to coastal dunes in the Alexandria dunefield in the eastern Cape.…”