temnothorax albipennis is a species of small ant in the subfamily myrmicinae .

it occurs in europe and builds simple nests in rock crevices .

temnothorax albipennis

the above specimen data are provided by antweb . please see temnothorax albipennis for further details
junior synonym of temnothorax unifasciatus : nylander , 1856b pdf : 92 ; of temnothorax nylanderi : smith , 1858a pdf : 120 ; of temnothorax tuberum : emery , 1924f pdf : 256 .
( 2013 ) nest - seeking rock ants ( temnothorax albipennis ) trade off sediment packing density and structural integrity for ease of cavity excavation .
until recently the ant temnothorax albipennis was known as leptothorax albipennis ( = tuberointerruptus ) and had been misidentified as temnothorax tuberum in britain . it appears that all mainland records of temnothorax tuberum refer to t . albipennis ( orledge , 1998 ) . whether the channel islands records for t . tuberum are similarly in error is unknown , although they are included here on the t . albipennis map . workers of t . albipennis are smaller than those of leptothorax acervorum , and generally distinguishable from workers of the three other british temnothorax species , by their combination of darkened antennal clubs , straight and relatively short propodeal spines , and rather poorly - defined darkening on their gasters .
image showing a marked temnothorax albipennis colony . colonies may be marked in this way so that individuals can be tracked in order to determine what behaviours they demonstrate .
revived from synonymy and senior synonym of temnothorax tuberointerruptus : orledge , 1998 : 31 .
combination in leptothorax : orledge , 1998 : 31 ; in temnothorax : bolton , 2003 pdf : 271 .
salata , s . & borowiec , l . 2013 . temnothorax albipennis ( curtis , 1854 ) in poland and identification of the t . tuberum species complex ( hymenoptera formicidae ) . genus ( wroclaw ) 24 , 403 - 413 .
temnothorax albipennis workers forage singly . they scavenge small arthropods and may also take small live invertebrates ( orledge , 1995 ) . no carbohydrate sources have been documented , but the author ' s observation of large numbers of workers on umbellifer flowers suggests that nectar is taken .
plateaux , l . & cagniant , h . 2012 : 436 : we conclude from all these observations that leptothorax tuberum unifasciatointerruptus is a hybrid of temnothorax unifasciatus and temnothorax albipennis . hybridization works in both directions , parents may be alternately of the two species , and males are from the parthenogenetic egg of the queen mother . note that both species exist also in places ( especially in luberon and ventoux ) where the where the form was found . we therefore ask : t . albipennis x t . unifasciatus = l . tuberum unifasciatointerruptus forel .
on continental europe t . albipennis has been recorded from the netherlands , southern france , northern spain , south and central germany and central italy .
bolton , b . 2003 . synopsis and classification of formicidae . mem . am . entomol . inst . 71 : 370pp ( page 271 , combination in temnothorax )
in britain , t . albipennis colonises warm , south - facing , open rocky areas , typically coastal cliffs , screes , undercliffs , slumped cliff slopes and old quarries .
wiezik , m . 2005a . first records of leptothorax albipennis and l . nadigi ( hymenoptera , formicidae , myrmicinae ) from slovakia . biológia ( bratisl . ) 60 : 170 ( page 170 , see also )
plateaux , l . & cagniant , h . 2012 . quelques synonymies dans le genre temnothorax mayr , 1855 ( hymenoptera , formicidae ) . bulletin de la société entomologique de france 117 ( 4 ) , 427 - 440 .
by contrast , in established temnothorax albipennis colonies , the aggregate is stable and is contained inside a nest rather than being exposed in the open . in t . albipennis , decisions to leave an established nest are not solely a function of group size [ 14 ] . even more than for a temporary aggregation , individual decisions to leave a stable collection of nest - mates may be affected by a wide variety of inter - related factors such as age or physical caste [ 15 ] , genetic predisposition [ 16 ] , physiological status [ 17 , 18 ] , reproductive status [ 19 ] , dominance interactions [ 20 , 21 ] , previous experience and spatial location [ 22 ] .
we tested the exit dynamics of t . albipennis ant colonies under the following three experimental conditions . note , all colony - size statistics were collected in a census immediately prior to the commencement of removal of workers as they left the nest .
orledge , g . m . 1998 . the identity of leptothorax albipennis ( curtis ) ( hymenoptera : formicidae ) and its presence in great britain . syst . entomol . 23 : 25 - 33 pdf ( page 31 , revived from synonymy , combination in leptothorax and senior synonym of tuberointerruptus )
we assumed that a similar process applies to individual ants within intact colonies , but in combination with social information . consistent with earlier experimental work on the collective decision making of temnothorax ants , we incorporated the use of quorums in our model ( 31 ) . when the population of ants at a nest site surpasses a threshold , commitment to that site increases significantly ( 32 , 33 ) . with this addition , the site acceptance probabilities now depend on the number of ants at the site as follows :
tuberointerruptus . leptothorax tuberointerruptus bondroit , 1918 : 126 ( w . q . ) switzerland . [ first available use of leptothorax tuberum var . tuberointerruptus forel , 1874 : 86 . nomen nudum . leptothorax tuberum r . interruptus var . tuberointerruptus forel , 1915d : 24 ( in key ) ; unavailable name . ] status as species : betrem , 1926 : 217 . subspecies of interruptus : novak & sadil , 1941 : 93 . revived status as species : seifert , 1994 : 22 . junior synonym of albipennis : orledge , 1998 : 31 .
i first determined whether ants assess nest population throughout the emigration or only until they begin to transport . i induced emigrations and followed recruiters until they switched from tandem runs to transports . i then emptied the new nest of ants and noted whether the recruiters continued to transport or reverted to tandem runs . two colonies of t . albipennis were housed in observation nests constructed of thin cardboard or wood partitions sandwiched between glass microscope slides ( 50 × 76 mm ) . these colonies and all others used in this study were collected at portland bill , dorset , u . k . ants were individually marked with four drops of paint on the head , thorax , and gaster . emigrations were induced by removing the roof slide from the old nest , forcing the ants to find a new home .
thirty - two colonies of t . rugatulus were used for the colony - level tests . half of them were small ( 20–80 workers ) , and half were large ( 150–250 workers ) . an additional eight medium - sized colonies ( 100–130 workers ) provided 16 worker ants ( 2 ants per colony ) for the individual tests . only a minority of workers in temnothorax colonies participate actively in nest - site scouting and transport of nestmates and brood items , whereas the rest of the colony waits at the home nest ( 24 , 33 ) . to ensure that we tested only these active ants , we placed brood items outside of the colony’s nest and selected workers that attempted to retrieve them . we reasoned that ants willing to leave the nest and retrieve brood were likely to carry out similar tasks during colony emigrations ( 34 ) .
the collective choice of a new home by emigrating colonies of the ant t . albipennis depends critically on the detection of a nest - mate quorum by the ants evaluating each candidate site . the quorum allows ants to condition their full commitment to a site—signaled by the switch from slow tandem runs to rapid transports—on the parallel decisions of their nest mates ( pratt et al . , 2002 ) . in this study , i show that quorum detection depends on direct contact between an ant and her nest mates at the site , probably acting through density - dependent encounter rates . i further show that ants cease monitoring the presence of a quorum once they have made the switch to transport , failing to revert to tandem runs even if the site ' s population falls well below the quorum . finally , my observations suggest that quorum detection is not instantaneous but requires ants to invest 1–2 min patrolling the site to gather information .
a markov chain model was used to describe the temnothorax house hunting process . in the model , each ant begins in the exploring state , from which she can either find the better nest , entering state a , or the worse nest , entering state b . if the ant fails to find either nest , she continues exploring . once at a site , she may also leave and find the other site , with some probability . with each subsequent nest visit , the ant enters state ca i or cb i , where i represents the number of comparisons she has made between nests . this number is incremented each time the ant goes from a to b , or from b to a . at each state the ant has a probability of accepting the nest she is currently assessing , modeled as the final states a and b . si appendix , table s2 provides a summary of model states ; si appendix , table s3 the model’s transition probabilities ; and si appendix , table s4 a description of the model parameters . the flowchart in si appendix , fig . s4 summarizes all possible state transitions .
from a previous dataset in which individually marked t . albipennis ants were allowed to freely leave and return to the nest [ 14 ] , we obtained the times that each ant left the nest over a 5 day period . from this , for each ant , we calculated the mean waiting time between successive exits . it should be emphasized that here the waiting time refers to the time elapsed between successive exits by the same ant . we then took the inverse of each ant ' s mean waiting time , giving the mean exit rate for each ant . thus , we obtained the distribution of the instantaneous decay probabilities ( exit rates ) within each of seven colonies . these rate distributions were well fitted by a log - logistic distribution . a variable that follows a log - logistic distribution is one in which the logarithm of the variable is logistically distributed ( electronic supplementary material , figure s2 ) . at the start of each run of the simulation , every ‘ant’ in the colony was assigned an individual exit rate from the distribution . in every time step , each ant decided whether to leave the nest by comparing its exit probability to a uniformly distributed random number between 0 and 1 . if the ant ' s exit probability was greater than this random number , the ant leaves the nest . we recorded the same statistics for these simulated ants , as for the real ants . for comparison , we also ran the model without any individual variation , by assigning the mean instantaneous decay probability from the log - logistic distribution to all the ants , which is a homogeneous poisson process .
these ants inhabit grasslands and light scrub , especially on lime subsoil and are sometimes common in dunes . they nests in rock crevices and rubble or in tree stumps and in dry fallen branches . colonies are reported as monogynous , with up to 200 workers , and may form temporary polydomous systems ( salata & borowiec , 2013 ) .
this species is a host for the endoparastic fungus myrmicinosporidium durum ( espadaler & santamaria , 2012 ) .
the following information is derived from barry bolton ' s new general catalogue , a catalogue of the world ' s ants .
curtis , j . 1854 . on the genus myrmica and other indigenous ants . trans . linn . soc . lond . 21 : 211 - 220 ( page 218 , worker , male described )
espadaler , x . , santamaria , s . 2012 . ecto - and endoparasitic fungi on ants from the holarctic region . psyche article id 168478 , 10 pages ( doi : 10 . 1155 / 2012 / 168478 ) .
nylander , w . 1856b . synopsis des formicides de france et d ' algérie . ann . sci . nat . zool . ( 4 ) 5 : 51 - 109 ( page 92 , junior synonym of unifasciatus )
smith , f . 1858a . catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the british museum . part vi . formicidae . london : british museum , 216 pp . ( page 120 , junior synonym of nylanderi )
this page was last modified on 31 october 2016 , at 00 : 51 .
you must log in to access this functionality . you may create an account , or log in anonymously , here .
0 times found in rocks ( rocky - calcareous grasslands ) , 4 times found in pinar , 0 times found in unknown , 3 times found in bosque claro de p . sylvaticus , 2 times found in robedal / castañar , 1 times found in agrícola , 0 times found in dry grassland , 1 times found in pinar ( p . sylvaticus ) cerrado , 1 times found in pinar en dunas , 1 times found in pinus sylvestris , . . .
1 times nido en tocón , 2 times nido en piedra , 1 times madera , 2 times forrajeando , 2 times bajo corteza ymusgo p sylvaticus , 1 times sous pierres , 1 times nido dentro de piedra , 1 times nido bajo piedra , 1 times nbp , 1 times bajo corteza pino , 1 times bajo corteza p sylvaticus , . . .
antweb content is licensed under a creative commons attribution license . we encourage use of antweb images . in print , each image must include attribution to its photographer and
from urltoken
in the figure caption . for websites , images must be clearly identified as coming from urltoken , with a backward link to the respective source page . see how to cite antweb .
antweb is funded from private donations and from grants from the national science foundation , deb - 0344731 , ef - 0431330 and deb - 0842395 . c : 1
british mainland records come only from southern england and from wales . most are from sites on or near the coast , a notable exception being the record from castle drogo , south devon ( alexander , 1983 ) . there are no confirmed records from ireland .
listed as a nationally notable ( na ) species ( falk 1991 ) . work for this atlas has shown that the species is currently known from 40 post - 1970 10 km squares on mainland britain and so the status should be revised .
alate males and females are produced during june and july and have left the nest by the middle of august ( from data in partridge ( 1993 ) ) . there are no field records of swarming , but laboratory observations suggest that mating flights occur during the two hours following sunrise ( plateaux 1984 ) .
nests are most frequently found between rock laminae , in rock cavities and crevices , on rock surfaces under mat - forming plants , or on soil under stones . between rock laminae the workers often surround the nest with a ' wall ' of soil particles and rock fragments . there are several records of nests within the dead stems of herbaceous and shrubby plants , in rotting wood and in old snail shells . near dungeness , kent , nests have also been found amongst pebbles and gorse roots , and in peat over pebbles ( felton , 1965 ) . colonies rarely exceed 350 workers , and have a single queen . adult workers are produced each year during the summer months .
many people know organisms only by the common names , or
vernacular
names . unlike scientific names , common names are almost always different for speakers of different languages . they may also vary regionally within a language . this tab shows all the common names provided to eol for this organism from a variety of providers , including eol curators . currently we can only set one preferred common name per language on a given eol page , but all the names should be searchable .
eol content is automatically assembled from many different content providers . as a result , from time to time you may find pages on eol that are confusing .
to request an improvement , please leave a comment on the page . thank you !
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd xhtml 1 . 0 transitional / / en
urltoken
warning : the ncbi web site requires javascript to function . more . . .
t . o . richardson , 1 , 2 , * k . christensen , 3 , 4 n . r . franks , 2 h . j . jensen , 3 , 5 and a . b . sendova - franks 1
* author for correspondence ( ku . ca . lotsirb @ nosdrahcir . mot ) .
many purely physical complex systems , in which there are both stochasticity and local interactions between the components , exhibit record dynamics . the temporal statistics of record dynamics is a poisson process operating on a logarithmic rather than a linear time scale ( i . e . a log - poisson process ) . record dynamics often drive substantial changes in complex systems when new high water marks in partially stochastic processes trigger new events . social insect colonies are exemplary complex biological systems in which many of the local interactions of the components have been moulded by natural selection for the common good . here , we combine experimental manipulation of ant colony demography with modelling to test the hypothesis that social interactions are the mechanism underlying the record dynamics . we found that compared with the control , log - poisson statistics were disrupted in colonies in which the pattern of interactions was modified by the removal of the brood , and disappeared completely in ‘callow’ colonies composed entirely of very young workers from the same age cohort . we conclude that a subtle interplay between the demography of the society and the pattern of the interactions between the ants is crucial for the emergence of record dynamics . this could help identify what makes an ant colony a cohesive society .
there may be safety in numbers [ 1 ] , so for many social animals , individuals are more likely to remain in a group the larger it is . hence , when deciding whether to leave the safety afforded by the group , individuals may often take the size of the group into account [ 2 – 4 ] .
complex systems in which events are governed by record dynamics exhibit rapidly , and crucially non - exponentially , declining event rates ( the rates are proportional to the inverse of time , hence events accumulate at a constant rate in logarithmic time ) . further , such systems always include strong interactions between the component parts . record dynamics have been shown to govern rapidly declining event rates in a diverse variety of non - equilibrium systems , for example declining extinction rates [ 27 – 29 ] , the ‘tangled nature’ model of macroevolution [ 25 , 30 ] , fluctuating commodity prices [ 31 ] , type - ii superconductors [ 32 ] , colloidal gels [ 33 ] and relaxation of the angle of repose in vibrated sandpiles [ 34 ] .
here , we use experimental manipulations of colony structure in combination with modelling to investigate the mechanisms underlying the log - poisson characteristics of nest exits when ants are experimentally prevented from returning home ( richardson et al . 2010 ) . our experiments compare ( i ) control colonies where worker and brood demographies have not been manipulated with ( ii ) ‘no - brood’ colonies where worker demography is not manipulated but the brood has been removed and ( iii ) colonies that have a full brood complement but all the workers belong to the same cohort of very young ‘callow’ workers . with our models , we compare statistics generated by two scenarios based on the poisson process against the well - known log - poisson statistics generated by a record dynamics process .
our second experimental manipulation was to construct callow colonies in which all the workers belonged to the same age - cohort of very young workers . both worker developmental stage and experience influence , and are influenced , by social interactions . hence , the motivation for this manipulation was to check whether a narrower distribution of probabilities for performing some action could still reproduce the log - poisson statistics found in unmanipulated colonies .
) with food and water provided ad libitum . all colonies had a single queen that showed normal behaviour for a fertilized queen , for example a strong tendency to take up a central position within the colony .
apparatus for automated removal of ants as they leave the nest . ( a ) microscope - slide nest ( 50 × 35 × 1 mm ) ; ( b ) high - resolution webcam ; ( c ) computer running automated motion - detection software ; ( d ) compressed air supply ; ( e ) access tube through which ants could access the exploration arena prior to the removal , and through which they left the nest during the removal . the access tube contained an inner tube and nozzle arrangement that delivered the pressurized air , hitting the ant from behind .
sixty - four hours prior to the beginning of the period when ants were removed as they left the nest , each colony was stimulated to emigrate to a new nest by removing the roof of their original nest . during this ‘settling - in’ period , no food or water was provided to the colonies , although they were allowed access to an exploration arena ( 100 × 100 mm ) , which was accessible via a tube attached to the front of the nest (
during the period when ants were removed as they left the nest , the exploration arena was disconnected . then , every time an ant walked to the glass tip of the access tube , its motion was detected by the high - resolution webcam ( logitech qc deluxe ) positioned immediately above (
) . this webcam was attached to a pc running automated motion detection software , thus sensing the exit of the ant . when an ant was detected leaving the nest , the computer opened a valve , releasing a short ( 0 . 2 s ) burst of pressurized air through the inner tube , hitting the ant from the rear , and resulting in the ant being blown out of the access tube , into a collection dish .
nine unmanipulated colonies with brood present ( median n adults = 90 , inter - quartile range ( iqr ) = 34 ; median n brood = 127 , iqr = 111 . 8 ) .
eight unmanipulated colonies with all brood removed ( median n adults = 118 , iqr = 24 ; median n brood = 0 . 5 , iqr = 4 . 8 ) . the brood was removed during the enforced emigration into the experimental nest , that is 64 h prior to commencement of experimental ant removal . in some colonies , the queen laid a few eggs after the removal of the brood , hence the median n brood is non - zero .
eight callow colonies were constructed ( median n adults = 101 , iqr = 67 , median n brood = 77 , iqr = 45 . 5 ) in the following way . the queen plus a retinue of 10 adults were removed from each of eight unmanipulated colonies , thus creating eight ‘proto - colonies’ . then , the 10 adult workers from each proto - colony were marked using pactra paint . these adult workers were used to perform the crucial task of helping the late - stage pupae eclose into callows , after which the adult workers were removed . we then collected brood items from 20 donor colonies , and sorted them according to their developmental stage ( eggs , larvae , pre - pupae and pupae ) . each proto - colony received a complement of brood containing equal proportions of eggs , larvae and pupae . we aimed to ensure there were equal numbers of workers and brood in each colony . the modal length of time from the point at which the majority of the pupae had eclosed , until the emigration into the experimental nest , was 12 days . newly eclosed callows are extremely sluggish , hence the delay to allow time for them to acquire some mobility . although not all the late - stage pupae eclosed at exactly the same time , the variation was relatively low , with the delay between the first and last eclosions of approximately 2 days .
which is the expectation from a homogeneous poisson process , such as radioactive decay .
( a ) the mean proportion of the colony remaining , normalized by the starting colony size , in logarithmic time ( log - linear axes ) . in a log - poisson process , n ( t ) grows , on average , at a constant rate in logarithmic time , hence 1 − ( n ( t ) / n t = 1 ) will decrease at a constant rate in logarithmic time . open circles , control ( n = 9 ) ; filled grey circles , no - brood ( n = 8 ) ; filled black circles , callow colonies ( n = 8 ) . ( b ) the proportion of the original colony remaining in the nest , as a function of time ( note linear - log axes ) . the proportion of the original colony remaining 1 − ( n ( t ) / n t = 1 ) , at the end for the experiment was : for the control , median = 0 . 39 , iqr = 0 . 47 ; no - brood , median = 0 . 37 , iqr = 0 . 27 ; callows , median = 0 . 50 , iqr = 0 . 12 . as in a homogeneous poisson process , the number remaining in the nest declines exponentially over time in the callow colonies ( λ = −2 ) but not in the control or the no - brood colonies . the linear fit is a guide to the eye only .
, that occurs simply due to there being fewer and fewer ants ‘available’ to leave the nest .
) is negative , this indicates social amplification , that is , the smaller the aggregate , the higher the exit rate and hence the shorter the residence times of those remaining . however , we found
> 0 , so the smaller the aggregate , the lower the exit rate and hence the longer the residence times , which we term social inhibition . the rate
exit rate as a function of the proportion remaining than did the no - brood colonies . we again found a qualitatively different pattern in the callow colonies , in which the
; electronic supplementary material , figure s4 ) . in other words , when colonies were constructed so as to minimize the variation in the ants ' exit probabilities , the
exit rate was stationary , and thus the absolute exit rate was dependent only upon the finite number of ants in the nest .
in the controls against those in the no - brood and callow colonies . we used glms of the form , response ∼ colony + experiment + covariate + experiment * covariate , where ‘ * ’ denotes interaction . this interaction term determines whether the coefficients ( i . e .
) are significantly different in the no - brood and callow colonies , compared with the control . the standardized residuals from the above glms were slightly more right skewed than a normal distribution ; however , the qualitative differences between the coefficients were the same when individual regressions were preformed on the ensemble average data depicted in
( a ) control , ( b ) no brood , and ( c ) callows . each data point represents the ensemble average , that is an average across the colonies . the curved lines are lowess regressions ( degree of smoothing , f = 0 . 5 , n steps = 2 ) . row 1 : testing for social amplification ( m < 0 ) or social inhibition ( m > 0 ) . rows 2–4 : testing for log - poisson statistics . logarithmic binning was used throughout for time plotted on the x - axis . row 2 : checking that the per capita exit rate behaves like r k / n t ∝ t − β . row 3 : variance - to - mean ratio , < vmr > , of the normalized accumulated number of events over time . if the timing of events obeys log - poisson statistics , the vmr will be constant over time . row 4 : open square boxes , the waiting time between exits , < t k − t k − 1 > , as a function of time . filled circles , the ratio , < x > , that is , the ratio of the waiting time between exits , t k − t k − 1 , to the time of occurrence of the previous ( k − 1 ) th event , t k − 1 , as a function of the time of occurrence of t k − 1 .
; electronic supplementary material , figure s3 ) . however , as the callow colonies showed a qualitatively different decrease in the event rate that was not well described by linear regressions of the form log
) , that is , the waiting time between exits increases more rapidly when the brood is present , compared with when the brood is absent .
testing for quantitative differences between the control and no - brood colonies . the callows were excluded from the comparison as they displayed qualitatively different temporal statistics . glms of the same form as in
rate and the waiting times were significantly different in the control versus no - brood colonies .
) of the accumulated number of events , that is , the vmr is equal to one , and does not vary over time . if the event rate is only
to a log - poisson variable . however , the same cannot be said for callow colonies , in which the < vmr > increases rapidly over time .
in the poisson process , the waiting time is stationary , exponentially distributed ( i . e .
) and there is no correlation between successive waiting times . similarly , in a log - poisson process , the logarithmic waiting times ( ln
) and without temporal correlation . however , here we wish to compensate for the falling colony size by calculating the logarithmic waiting times on a
) , and are not temporally correlated ( electronic supplementary material , figure s1 ) . however , in the callow colonies ,
are considerably more right - skewed , non - stationary and temporally correlated , while in the no - brood colonies these metrics are again intermediate between poisson and log - poisson .
the cumulative distribution of the per capita logarithmic waiting times , p ( τ / n t ) > x . ( a ) controls , ( b ) no - brood colonies , ( c ) callows . in a poisson process , the waiting times are exponentially distributed , ( p ( t k − t k −1 > x ) = e − λx ) , and similarly in a log - poisson process the logarithmic waiting times ( ln t k − ln t k −1 = ln ( t k / t k −1 ) = τ ) are exponentially distributed ( p ( τ > x ) = e − λx ) . each line represents a different colony .
the mechanism described above is a natural null model because it is so simple , and also because the poisson statistics it produces are well studied . however , the temporal statistics of a poisson process operating on a logarithmic time scale , that is ‘log - poisson’ statistics , characterizing the nest exit dynamics in unmanipulated colonies ( richardson et al . 2010 ) , suggest an alternative mechanism of record dynamics [ 25 , 26 ] derived from the statistical mechanics of complex systems . in this scenario , individual exits are triggered when a fluctuating variable , the ‘record signal’ , reaches a never - before - seen ( record ) level . if the record signal is uncorrelated in time , the increment between successive record values will rapidly decrease , and the interval between successive records will rapidly increase . clearly , there are strong interactions between ants [ 41 – 43 ] , and the interaction rate—measured by the collective activity—fluctuates non - periodically over time [ 44 – 46 ] .
here we assume that within each colony there is a distribution of intrinsic decay probabilities , and that a ‘decay’ event is equivalent to an exit . then , the declining exit rate will be because of the diminishing number of ants , but also because on average the more ‘unstable’ ants leave the nest before those with lower exit probabilities . this model is essentially a non - homogeneous poisson process that incorporates a finite - size effect .
here we present an alternative phenomenological explanation for the production of the observed log - poisson statistics . we assume that an event occurs ( an ant leaves the nest ) whenever a fluctuating record signal hits a new maximum ( or minimum ) value . then , the temporal stochasticity of the signal itself is responsible for regulating the exit rate , rather than the variation across individuals , as in the null model . time series created in this manner are known as ‘white noise’ . as each instance of the signal is randomly chosen , the value of the signal at time
the temporal sequence of events ( records ) generated by three realizations of the record dynamics model . records accumulate at a constant rate in logarithmic time . insert : the fluctuation of the underlying white - noise record signal for a single realization . here , the x - axis shows linear time . open circles , the underlying record signal and its associated records ( solid line ) .
when there was no individual variation in the exit rates , or rather , when the exits were organized by a homogeneous poisson process operating on a finite population , we found typical poisson statistics . specifically , the number of events did not accumulate at a constant rate in logarithmic time (
) . thus , this model qualitatively reproduces the statistics produced by the callow colonies .
results of the null model based on : ( a , c ) a homogeneous poisson process , instantaneous exit rate for all ants = 0 . 0003 s −1 , ( b , d ) a heterogenous poisson process ( log - logistic distribution , see electronic supplementary material , figure s2 ) mean instantaneous exit rate = 0 . 0003 s −1 . for both exit probability distributions , the starting colony size was identical , n t = 1 = 100 ants . the number of time steps in both models was of the same order of magnitude as in the experimental data . for further details of model parametrization , see text . ( a , b ) open circles , the mean proportion of the original colony remaining , 1− ( n ( t ) / n t = 1 ) ; filled circles , the vmr for n ( t ) . ( c , d ) open squares , the mean waiting times as a function of time , t k − t k −1 ∝ t k −1 ; filled squares , the ratio of the waiting times , x , as a function of the time of the previous event .
we do not give further evidence of the log - poisson nature of the event rate statistics generated by the record dynamics model as it has been demonstrated elsewhere [ 25 , 47 – 49 ] that a fluctuating record signal produces log - poisson statistics .
] . in the no - brood colonies , the absence of hungry brood may have removed stimuli that trigger foraging and thus contributed to the observed reduction in the overall exit rate .
it is clear from the null model that individual variation is not , by itself , sufficient to reproduce event rates that decelerate according to record dynamics . merely assigning individual nest - leaving rates ( derived from previous empirical observations of unimpeded nest leaving ) to the non - interacting ‘ants’ did not reproduce the log - poisson statistics (
) . therefore , the scenario in which the decision to leave the nest is a purely probabilistic consequence of the individual exit rate is inaccurate .
statistics in the control colonies demonstrates that the log - poisson deceleration is not merely an artefact of the declining colony size . colonies composed entirely of a single age - cohort of very young and inexperienced callows differed qualitatively from the log - poisson statistics described in the control and , to a lesser extent , in the no - brood conditions . in the callow colonies , the
) or stationary ( electronic supplementary material , figure s5 ) . instead of the ‘normal’ log - poisson temporal statistics found in unmanipulated colonies , the timing of nest exits in callow colonies was more like a homogeneous poisson process (
) . so , when the society lacks variation in age and task experience among the component parts , it displays none of the interesting dynamics exhibited by systems in which events are regulated by record dynamics .
the importance of the structuring of social interactions is supported further by the result that no - brood colonies show statistics that are intermediate between log poisson and poisson . we hypothesized that the removal of the brood would change the spatial distribution of the interactions between the workers within the colony , so causing a loss of log - poisson temporal statistics . indeed , the loss of the log - poisson behaviour suggests that the particular pattern of ant–ant interactions mediated by the presence of brood of various developmental stages sorted into an annular structure is important for the generation of log - poisson statistics . in summary , to explain the production of the log - poisson statistics , it is necessary but not sufficient to invoke only the natural variation in the ants ' nest - leaving tendencies or the nature of the interactions between the workers .
so what then would be sufficient ? it is reasonable to suppose that decreasing the density of ants within the nest might cause a reduction in the rate at which ants encounter one another . then , if individual exit probabilities were downregulated ( i . e . inhibited ) as the encounter rate decreases , the exit rate would decline more rapidly than if there were no density effects . clearly , in order to construct an individual - level model that reproduces the collective log - poisson statistics , we will need a much more detailed understanding of how ant–ant interactions within the nest influence subsequent decisions to leave it .
our results demonstrate how analysing the behaviour of social insect colonies using the tools of record dynamics brings new insights in their organization and opens up the prospect of developing a new theory to help identify what makes an ant colony a cohesive society . substantial and irreversible changes in complex systems can originate from the combination of temporal stochasticity and strong interactions between the components . in the physical sciences there is strong evidence for the role of such record dynamics in a wide range of condensed - matter systems . the application of record dynamics to complex systems in biology promises to be fruitful because both stochasticity and agent–agent interactions are ubiquitous at all levels of biological organization .
t . o . r . and a . b . s . - f . acknowledge epsrc grant ep / e061796 / 1 . k . c . acknowledges epsrc grant ep / e061761 / 1 . we are grateful to everyone in the ant laboratory at bristol for helpful advice .
modulation of individual behaviour and collective decision - making during aggregation site selection by the ant messor barbarus .
sendova - franks a . b . , franks n . r . 1995a .
division of labour in a crisis : task allocation during colony emigration in the ant leptothorax unifasciatus ( latr . )
depickère s . , ramirez - avila g . m . , fresneau d . , deneubourg j . l . 2008 .
robinson e . j . h . , richardson t . o . , sendova - franks a . b . , feinerman o . , franks n . r . 2009 .
sendova - franks a . b . , franks n . r . 1995b .
spatial relationships within nests of the ant leptothorax unifasciatus ( latr . ) and their implications for the division of labour
richardson e . j . h . , robinson e . j . h . , christensen k . , jensen h . j . , franks n . r . , sendova - franks a . b . 2010 .
hall m . , christensen k . , di collobiano s . a . , jensen h . j . 2002 .
franks n . r . , sendova - franks a . b . 1992 .
sendova - franks a . b . , scholes s . r . , franks n . r . , melhuish c . 2004 .
synchronization of the behavior within nests of the ant leptothorax acervorum ( fabricius ) . 1 . discovering the phenomenon and its relation to the level of starvation
we are grateful for the practical assistance and comments of the members of the university of bristol ant lab . njm was supported by an association for the study of animal behaviour research grant ( to nrf ) .
aleksiev as , longdon b , christmas mj , sendova - franks ab , franks nr ( 2007a ) individual choice of building material for nest construction by worker ants and the collective outcome for their colony . anim behav 74 : 559–566
aleksiev as , sendova - franks ab , franks nr ( 2007b ) the selection of building material for wall construction by ants . anim behav 73 : 779–788
aleksiev as , longdon b , christmas mj , sendova - franks ab , franks nr ( 2008 ) individual and collective choice : parallel prospecting and mining in ants . naturwissenschaften 95 : 301–305
blott sj , pye k ( 2001 ) gradistat : a grain size distribution and statistics package for the analysis of unconsolidated sediments . earth surf proc land 26 : 1237–1248
camazine s , deneubourg j - l , franks nr , sneyd j , theraulaz g , bonabeau e ( 2001 ) self - organization in biological systems . princeton university press , princeton
coe al ( 1996 ) unconformities within the portlandian stage of the wessex basin and their sequence - stratigraphical significance . in : hesselbo sp , parkinson dn ( eds ) sequence stratigraphy in british geology . geol soc spec publ 103 : 109–143
dashtgard se , gingras mk , pemberton sg ( 2008 ) grain - size controls on the occurrence of bioturbation . palaeogeogr palaeoclimatol palaeoecol 257 : 224–243
dawkins r ( 1999 ) the extended phenotype : the long reach of the gene , revised ed . oxford university press , oxford
folgarait pj ( 1998 ) ant biodiversity and its relationship to ecosystem functioning : a review . biodivers conserv 7 : 1221–1244
folk rl , ward wc ( 1957 ) brazos river bar : a study in the significance of grain size parameters . j sediment petrol 27 : 3–26
franks nr , deneubourg j - l ( 1997 ) self - organizing nest construction in ants : individual worker behaviour and the nest ' s dynamics . anim behav 54 : 779–796
franks nr , wilby a , silverman b , tofts c ( 1992 ) self - organizing nest construction in ants : sophisticated building by blind bulldozing . anim behav 44 : 357–375
franks nr , dornhaus a , fitzsimmons jp , stevens m ( 2003a ) speed versus accuracy in collective decision - making . proc r soc lond b 270 : 2457–2463
franks nr , mallon eb , bray he , hamilton mj , mischler tc ( 2003b ) strategies for choosing between alternatives with different attributes : exemplified by house - hunting ants . anim behav 65 : 215–223
franks nr , dornhaus a , best cs , jones el ( 2006 ) decision - making by small and large house - hunting ant colonies : one size fits all . anim behav 72 : 611–616
heneberg p ( 2009 ) soil penetrability as a key factor affecting the nesting of burrowing birds . ecol res 24 : 453–459
jones cg , lawton jh , shachak m ( 1994 ) organisms as ecosystem engineers . oikos 69 : 373–386
jouquet p , dauber j , lagerlöf j , lavelle p , lepage m ( 2006 ) soil invertebrates as ecosystem engineers : intended and accidental effects on soil and feedback loops . appl soil ecol 32 : 153–164
kinlaw a ( 1999 ) a review of burrowing by semi - fossorial vertebrates in arid environments . j arid environ 41 : 127–145
langridge ea , franks nr , sendova - franks ab ( 2004 ) improvement in collective performance with experience in ants . behav ecol sociobiol 56 : 523–529
minter nj , franks nr , robson - brown ka ( 2012 ) morphogenesis of an extended phenotype : four - dimensional ant nest architecture . j r soc interface 9 : 586–595
r core team ( 2012 ) r : a language and environment for statistical computing . r foundation for statistical computing , vienna , austria . isbn 3 - 900051 - 07 - 0 .
robinson ejh , franks nr , ellis s , okuda s , marshall jar ( 2011 ) a simple threshold rule is sufficient to explain sophisticated collective decision - making . plos one 6 : e19981
sendova - franks ab , franks nr ( 1993 ) task allocation in ant colonies within variable environments ( a study of temporal polyethism : experimental ) . b math biol 55 : 75–96
sosa b , brazeiro a ( 2012 ) local and landscape - scale effects of an ant nest construction in an open dry forest of uruguay . ecol entomol 37 : 252–255
toffin e , kindekens j , deneubourg jl ( 2010 ) excavated substrate modulates growth instability during nest building in ants . proc r soc b 277 : 2617–2625
wilson eo ( 1971 ) the insect societies . harvard university press , cambridge , ma
yuan h - w , burt db , wang l - p , chang w - l , wang m - k , chiou c - r , ding t - s ( 2006 ) colony site choice of blue - tailed bee - eaters : influences of soil , vegetation and water quality . j nat hist 40 : 485–493
minter , n . j . , sendova - franks , a . b . & franks , n . r . behav ecol sociobiol ( 2013 ) 67 : 1745 . urltoken
we use cookies to enhance your experience on our website . by continuing to use our website , you are agreeing to our use of cookies . you can change your cookie settings at any time .
address correspondence to s . c . pratt . e - mail : spratt @ urltoken .
how do ants actually implement the quorum rule ? that is , what proximate cues cause them to change their recruitment behavior ? when we say that this change relies on attainment of a quorum , this reflects both the experimental observation that the number of nest mates at a site determines subsequent recruitment behavior as well as the likelihood that nest - mate number is the functionally important feature for decision - making performance at the colony level . the ants themselves , however , are not likely to assess nest - mate numbers directly . although evidence exists for a limited number sense in many animals , including honey bees ( chittka and geiger , 1995 ; dehaene et al . , 1998 ) , insects and simpler organisms likely rely instead on simple cues correlated with either the absolute numbers or the density of conspecifics .
alternatively , ants may respond to their rate of encounter with nest mates . during each visit to her candidate site , the scout wanders through it , approaching nest mates and touching them with her antennae . the rate of such encounters is likely to increase with the local density of ants ( gordon et al . , 1993 ) . one possibility is that an ant simply notes the time elapsed between her entry at the site and her first encounter . if this interval declines with increasing site population , it could serve as a simple cue of nest - mate density . similar time intervals play an important role in allocating labor in partitioned tasks , efficiently balancing the numbers of workers foraging for material with the numbers using this material at the nest ( jeanne , 1986 ; seeley , 1995 ) . a second possibility is that each ant integrates information from many encounters over the duration of her visit . use of multiple encounters could improve the precision of her estimate , as others have suggested for partitioned tasks ( ratnieks and anderson , 1999 ) . similar cues have already been implicated in labor allocation within harvester ant colonies , where an ant ' s probability of switching to a given task is positively related to her rate of encounter with nest mates already performing that task ( greene and gordon , 2003 ; gordon and mehdiabadi , 1999 ) .
in this study , i examined the potential roles of encounter rate and indirect pheromonal signals in detection of a nest - mate quorum . i began by determining when , during an emigration , scouts pay attention to quorum attainment , and by estimating the time they devote to its measurement . i then explicitly tested the importance of each cue by manipulating its availability to scouts and determining how this affected their subsequent recruitment decisions .
apparatus used to control access of ants to a new nest site . the dish containing the old nest is mounted on a rack - and - pinion mechanism that allows it to be joined with or separated from the dish containing the new nest .
the time required by ants to decide whether a quorum is present may help to distinguish among potential mechanisms . detection of volatile pheromones is potentially very rapid , while measurement of lag to the first encounter may be more time consuming , and integration of a series of encounters should take longer still . to determine whether time devoted to quorum detection changed as ants switched from tandem runs to transports , i measured the duration of each visit to the new site by individually marked recruiters . emigrations were observed in a large tray with fluon - coated walls . an inhabited nest was placed against one wall of the tray and a single empty nest against the opposite wall , 60–65 cm away . digital video cameras recorded the ants ' activity at each nest throughout the emigration . visit durations and subsequent recruitment behavior were measured from the videotapes . only data from ants that led tandem runs were analyzed . i excluded the visit before each ant ' s first recruitment to avoid confounding time devoted to quorum detection with time needed to assess the nest . also excluded were visits that followed searches in the arena , to avoid confounding quorum assessment with prolonged stays in the nest that may follow these searches . six emigrations were observed : three by colony a6 , two by colony 6 , and one by colony 1 .


sloggett 's vlei rat or ice rat ( otomys sloggetti ) is a species of rodent in the family muridae .

it is found in southern lesotho and south africa where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland , swamps , and rocky areas .

its name commemorates col. arthur sloggett who served in south africa and collected at deelfontein in 1902 .

this is a common species and the international union for conservation of nature has rated it as being of " least concern " .

sloggett ' s vlei rat

minden pictures stock photos - sloggett & apos ; s vlei rat ( otomys sloggetti ) adult , sitting on rock , sani pass , drakensberg mountains , lesotho , septembe . . .
minden pictures stock photos - sloggett & apos ; s vlei rat ( otomys sloggetti ) skull , adult , showing deeply grooved front incisors , drakensberg , kwazulu - n . . .
the sloggett ' s vlei rat is listed as least concern . does not qualify for a more at risk category . widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category , on the iucn red list of threatened species
sloggett ' s vlei rat or ice rat ( otomys sloggetti or myotomys sloggetti ) is a species of rodent in the family muridae . it is found in southern lesotho and south africa . its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high - altitude grassland , swamps , and rocky areas .
its name commemorates col . a . t . sloggett who collected at deelfontein in 1902 .
hinze , a . , pillay , n . and grab , s . 2006 . the burrow system of the african ice rat otomys sloggetti robertsi . mammalian biology 71 : 356–365 .
a young / baby of a sloggett is called a ' kitten , nestling , pinkie or pup ' . the females are called ' doe ' and males ' buck ' . a sloggett group is called a ' colony , horde , pack , plague or swarm ' .
worldcat is the world ' s largest library catalog , helping you find library materials online . learn more ››
willan , k . 1990 . reproductive biology of the southern african ice rat . acta theriologica 35 : 39–51 .
sloggett ' s vlei rat is found at high elevations ( > 2 , 000 m ) in the drakensberg mountains of the eastern cape and kwazulu - natal provinces of south africa as well as lesotho ( lynch 1994 , monadjem et al . 2015 ) , with isolated subpopulations from mountains in the karoo , such as in the sneeuberg mountain complex ( kok et al . 2012 ) , or in dry , semi - desert habitats around inselbergs and mountain ranges at > 1 , 500 m asl . in the drakensberg range , o . angoniensis occurs on the lower slopes in savannah habitats , o . auratus and o . laminatus at mid - elevation in grasslands and o . sloggetti at the highest elevations in alpine heath habitats ( monadjem et al . 2015 ) .
schwaibold , u . and pillay , n . 2010 . habitat use in the ice rat otomys slogetti robertsi . south african journal of wildlife research 40 : 64–72 .
a uniquely valuable compendium of taxonomic and distributional data on the world ' s living and historically extinct mammalian species . contributors and editors alike deserve the thanks of all
hinze a . 2005 . social behaviour and activity patterns of the african ice rat otomys skiggetti robertsi . faculty of science , school of biology , university of the witwatersrand .
hinze , a . , rymer , t . and pillay , n . 2013 . spatial dichotomy of sociality in the african ice rat . journal of zoology 290 : 208–214 .
mokotjomela , t . , schwaibold , u . and pillay , n . 2009 . does the ice rat otomys sloggetti robertsi contribute to habitat change in lesotho ? acta oecologica 35 : 437–443 .
mokotjomela , t . , schwaibold , u . and pillay , n . 2010 . population surveys of the ice rat otomys sloggetti robertsi in the lesotho drakensberg . african zoology 45 : 225–232 .
grab , s . w . and deschamps , c . l . 2004 . geomorphological and geoecological controls and processes following gully development in alpine mires , lesotho . arctic , antarctic , and alpine research 36 : 49–58 .
information indicates evolutionary relationships at both the ordinal and the family level . this indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals .
- - publisher ' s website .
it may be an important prey species for predators occurring at high - altitudes . their extensive burrow systems s contributes to soil turnover and aeration . however , when burrows collapse , the resulting gullies alter water flow , contributing to erosion ( grab and deschamps 2004 ) .
wilson and reeder ' s mammal species of the world is the classic reference book on the taxonomic classification and distribution of the more than 5400 species of mammals that exist today . the third edition includes detailed information on nomenclature and , for the first time , common names . each concise entry covers type locality , distribution , synonyms , and major reference sources . the systematic arrangement of information indicates evolutionary relationships at both the ordinal and the family level . this indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals .
- - publisher ' s website .
wilson and reeder ' s mammal species of the world is the classic reference book on the taxonomic classification and distribution of the more than 5400 species of mammals that exist today . the third edition includes detailed information on nomenclature and , for the first time , common names . each concise entry covers type locality , distribution , synonyms , and major reference sources . the systematic arrangement of
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd xhtml 1 . 0 strict / / en
urltoken
thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on the iucn red list of threatened species website , we are grateful for your input .
although otomys sloggetti is considered to be defined by primitive dental characters , its position on the phylogeny of otomyinae remains unresolved ( taylor et al . 2004 ) .
this high - altitude endemic is listed as least concern because it has a relatively wide distribution within the assessment region , occurs in several protected areas , including the maloti - drakensberg transfrontier conservation area , and because it generally occurs in inaccessible habitats unlikely to be transformed . there are no known threats that could cause rapid population decline . climate change is not suspected to be an emerging threat . conversely , density has been estimated to have increased threefold in the lesotho drakensberg between 1994 and 2006 possibly due to warmer temperatures . thus , we list as least concern . however , continuing habitat degradation from overgrazing , as well as any other identified minor threats , must be monitored .
occurs in montane grasslands on xeric or mesic soils , either dry or wet typically amidst piles of loose stones or boulders , both natural and man - made ( for example , stone walls ) . it does not occur in modified habitats , but will sometimes nest in crevices in rock foundations of roads ( willan 1990 ) . they are diurnal and feed on stems , leaves and floral parts of green plants . in the sani valley , o . sloggetti feeds on wetland grasses , sedges and herbaceous vegetation but avoid helichrysum spp . ( schwaibold and pillay 2010 ) .
it lives in colonies consisting of at least 4 - 16 individuals and the breeding season occurs between october and march ( hinze 2005 ) . for example , in the sani valley , o . sloggettii lives in mixed - sex colonies of up to 17 individuals ( hinze et al . 2013 ) , which construct an intricate underground burrow system in organic and mineral soils ( hinze et al . 2006 ) . plants taken below ground are used for nesting and there is no evidence of food hoarding ( hinze et al . 2006 ) . suitable wetland sites in the sani valley are home to several colonies and competition for preferred food plants leads to solitary feeding and avoidance between individuals of the same and different colonies ( hinze et al . 2013 ) . rocky surfaces and boggy soil limits dispersal ( mokotjomela et al . 2010 ) .
there is anecdotal information of herdsman in lesotho hunting o . sloggetti . however , this threat remains to be quantified .
it occurs in many protected areas across its range such as the maloti - drakensberg transfrontier conservation area ( monadjem et al . 2015 ) and mountain zebra national park ( kok et al . 2012 ) . although no specific interventions are necessary at present , wetland conservation and restoration is likely to benefit this species . recommendations for land managers and practitioners :
land managers should maintain a vegetation buffer around wetlands to reduce impacts of land - use practices .
land managers should practice holistic management of ranchlands , including de - stocking and rotational grazing .
further long - term , systematic monitoring is needed to establish subpopulation trends and threat levels .
report sightings on virtual museum platforms ( for example , ispot and mammalmap ) , especially outside protected areas .
to make use of this information , please check the < terms of use > .
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd xhtml 1 . 0 transitional / / en
urltoken
mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference ( book , 2005 ) [ worldcat . org ]
your web browser is not enabled for javascript . some features of worldcat will not be available .
your list has reached the maximum number of items . please create a new list with a new name ; move some items to a new or existing list ; or delete some items .
note : citations are based on reference standards . however , formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study . the specific requirements or preferences of your reviewing publisher , classroom teacher , institution or organization should be applied .
the e - mail address ( es ) field is required . please enter recipient e - mail address ( es ) .
the e - mail address ( es ) you entered is ( are ) not in a valid format . please re - enter recipient e - mail address ( es ) .
i thought you might be interested in this item at urltoken title : mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference author : don e wilson ; deeann m reeder publisher : baltimore : johns hopkins university press , ©2005 . isbn / issn : 0801882214 9780801882210 0801882389 9780801882388 0801882397 9780801882395 oclc : 57557352
please choose whether or not you want other users to be able to see on your profile that this library is a favorite of yours .
this indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals .
add tags for
mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference
.
you may have already requested this item . please select ok if you would like to proceed with this request anyway .
don ' t have an account ? you can easily create a free account .
4 . grassland - > 4 . 7 . grassland - subtropical / tropical high altitude suitability : suitable 5 . wetlands ( inland ) - > 5 . 4 . wetlands ( inland ) - bogs , marshes , swamps , fens , peatlands suitability : suitable 0 . root - > 6 . rocky areas ( eg . inland cliffs , mountain peaks ) suitability : suitable
2 . land / water management - > 2 . 3 . habitat & natural process restoration
1 . residential & commercial development - > 1 . 1 . housing & urban areas ♦ timing : ongoing 2 . agriculture & aquaculture - > 2 . 1 . annual & perennial non - timber crops - > 2 . 1 . 2 . small - holder farming ♦ timing : ongoing 5 . biological resource use - > 5 . 1 . hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - > 5 . 1 . 1 . intentional use ( species is the target ) ♦ timing : ongoing
1 . research - > 1 . 2 . population size , distribution & trends 1 . research - > 1 . 3 . life history & ecology
iucn . 2017 . the iucn red list of threatened species . version 2017 - 2 . available at : urltoken . ( accessed : 14 september 2017 ) .
kok , a . d . , parker , d . m . and barker , n . p . 2012 . life on high : the diversity of small mammals at high altitude in south africa . biodiversity and conservation 21 : 2823–2843 .
lynch , c . d . 1994 . the mammals of lesotho . navorsinge van die nasionale museum bloemfontein 10 ( 4 ) : 177 - 241 .
monadjem , a . , taylor , p . j . , denys , c . and cotterill , f . p . d . 2015 . rodents of sub - saharan africa - a biogeographic and taxonomic synthesis . de gruyter , berlin / munich / boston .
pacifici , m . , santini , l . , di marco , m . , baisero , d . , francucci , l . , grottolo marasini , g . , visconti , p . and rondinini , c . 2013 . generation length for mammals . nature conservation 5 : 87–94 .
taylor , p . j . , denys , c . and mukerjee , m . 2004 . phylogeny of the african murid tribe otomyini ( rodentia ) , based on morphological and allozyme evidence . zoologica scripta 33 : 389–402 .
taylor , p . j . , nengovhela , a . , linden , j . and baxter , r . m . 2016 . past , present , and future distribution of afromontane rodents ( muridae : otomys ) reflect climate - change predicted biome changes . mammalia 80 : 359–375 .
this species is known from central and eastern south africa and from across lesotho . it occurs above 2 , 000 m asl , but is usually found higher than 2 , 600 m asl . there are historical records from inselbergs in the karoo at 1 , 500 m asl .
katja schulz set
file : otomys sloggetti . png
as an exemplar on
otomys
.
yan wong changed the thumbnail image of
file : otomys sloggetti . png
.
kari pihlaviita added the finnish common name
natalinkorvarotta
to
otomys sloggetti thomas , 1902
.
eol content is automatically assembled from many different content providers . as a result , from time to time you may find pages on eol that are confusing .
to request an improvement , please leave a comment on the page . thank you !
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd html 4 . 01 transitional / / en
urltoken
picture has been licensed under a creative commons attribution . original source : chown sl , sinclair bj , leinaas hp , gaston kj : hemispheric asymmetries in biodiversity—a serious matter for ecology . plos biol 2 / 11 / 2004 : e406 . doi : 10 . 1371 / journal . pbio . 0020406 author : brent j . sinclair
right now the scientific names on some species do not show on the site - we are working to fix this problem which should be solved after the back - up this morning .
upload tip : if your photo does not get uploaded properly , try to resize it to less than 3 mb .
would you like to see your friends photos in the igoterra gallery ? invite them and get 2 months free subcription extension for every new friend who joins . click here to get to the invitation page
html public
- / / w3c / / dtd html 4 . 01 / / en
urltoken
terms | privacy | phone : 831 . 661 . 5551 | email : info @ urltoken | © 2015 minden pictures inc | all content on this website is protected by copyright
it is a diurnal inhabitant of montane and alpine grassland on both dry or wet bog soils with or without rocky outcrops . the species does not occur in modified habitats .
amori , g . ( small nonvolant mammal red list authority ) & cox , n . ( global mammal assessment team )
listed as least concern because it has a relatively wide distribution including several protected areas , a presumed large population , and its population is not believed to be in decline at present .
there have been estimates of the population at over 100 individuals / ha in suitable rocky habitats ( willan 1990 ) .
musser , g . g . ; carleton , m . d . ( 2005 ) .
superfamily muroidea
. in wilson , d . e . ; reeder , d . m . mammal species of the world ( 3rd ed . ) . johns hopkins university press . pp . 894–1531 . isbn 978 - 0 - 8018 - 8221 - 0 . oclc 62265494 .
taylor , p . j . & monadjem , a . 2008 . otomys sloggetti . in : iucn 2011 . iucn red list of threatened species . version 2011 . 1 . otomys sloggetti . downloaded on 18 july 2011 .
smithers , reay h . n . the mammals of the southern african subregion - university of pretoria ( 1983 )