Positive effect of a diggable substrate on the behaviour of a captive naked mole rat colony.
Journal
Scientific reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
Titre abrégé: Sci Rep
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101563288
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
29 Aug 2024
29 Aug 2024
Historique:
received:
27
01
2024
accepted:
05
06
2024
medline:
31
8
2024
pubmed:
31
8
2024
entrez:
29
8
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Naked mole rats (Heterocephalus galber) are eusocial mammals from East Africa. Their extraordinary social organisation is accompanied by remarkable adaptations to an underground lifestyle, extreme longevity and resistance to many diseases, making naked mole rats a highly relevant model for biological research. However, their living conditions in controlled environments do not allow them to express fundamental behaviours: digging galleries and exploring. This gap probably constitutes a bias to any behavioural or even medical study, because it represents a potential obstacle to their well-being. In this article, we tested the effects of the introduction of a diggable substrate on the behaviour of a colony of naked mole rats at the Menagerie, le Zoo du Jardin des Plantes, Paris. We measured individual exploratory latencies, the number of entries per minute and the frequency with which naked mole rats gnawed tunnels during observation trials. We found that: (i) young individuals explore more quickly, (ii) the introduction of a diggable substrate encourages exploration and digging behaviour, and (iii) could therefore be a relevant element to introduce under human care. This new environmental design could improve the welfare of naked mole rats by creating opportunities for cognitive challenges such as exploration and environmental control.
Identifiants
pubmed: 39209873
doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-64146-w
pii: 10.1038/s41598-024-64146-w
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
20138Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s).
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