The opportunities and challenges that life underground poses have led to remarkable examples of adaptive evolution in subterranean species. Here, we report two amazing specialised adaptations in a typical subterranean species, plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi): (1) the flaky thumb claw, which facilitates the holding and cleaning of vegetation roots in the dark; and (2) largely elongated compulsory arousal duration from deep sleep, which may affect its safety in the subterranean niche. To our knowledge this is the first report of these adaptations relevant to specialisations of underground species. We propose that these findings will provide valuable information for further understanding of the developmental mechanisms involved in patterning distal limb appendages as well as sleep physiology.
Fig.A zokor holding a piece of dandelion root: note the lateral image of its flaky thumb claw in the lower right corner.
Additional Information:
1 Author Information:G. LIN 1, W.LI 1, E.NEVO 2, J.SU 1 and T. ZHANG 1,3
Correspondence: zhangtz@nwipb.ac.cn; nwipb@hotmail.com.
2 Published : 13 Jan 2011，Ethology Ecology & Evolution,2011 23(1):77-80.