Hypoxic survival differs between two mole rat species (Spalax ehrenbergi) of humid and arid habitats.
1. Two chromosomal species, 2n = 52 and 2n = 60 of the mole rat superspecies (Spalax ehrenbergi), occupy humid (2n = 52) and arid (2n = 60) habitats in Israel. 2. Gas conductivity of the soil of the 2n = 52 mole rat is lower than that of the 2n = 60 mole rat, and the 2n = 52 mole rat is better adapted to hypoxia. 3. The hypothesis that the 2n = 52 mole rat can survive to a lower pO2 than the 2n = 60 mole rat was tested. 4. Terminal pO2 (Torr) of four females 2n = 52 was lower, 18.0 +/- 2.9 (SD), than the terminal pO2 of five females 2n = 60, 28.2 +/- 5.1 (SD). 5. The hypoxic survival of the 2n = 52 mole rat as compared to that of the 2n = 60 mole rat correlates with other physiological traits: breathing and heart frequencies, blood hemoglobin and tissue gas tensions.
Israeli Naval Hyperbaric Institute, Haifa.
R
R
Arieli
E
E
Nevo
D000064:Acclimatization / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D003889:Desert Climate; D005260:Female; D006813:Humidity; D010100:Oxygen / Q000502:physiology*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010313:Partial Pressure; D012377:Rodentia / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate
D010100:Oxygen