Ansell's mole-rat (''Fukomys anselli'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family Bathyergidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. Its natural habitats are moist

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

and

miombo Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located in central and southern tropical Africa. It includes three woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) chara ...

forests. It is noted for its very long tunnels, up to for a single colony of only ten individuals. The colonies are made of a eusocial system. They include a main reproductive king and queen that are thought to be faithful to one another. Ansell's mole-rats (Fukomys anselli) develop their underground habitat using their anatomical features such as body shape, chiseled teeth, and large jaws to dig through the soil. These long tunnels often branch off at various levels in the soil which allow mole-rats to create the space needed for their survival, such as searching for plants, creating food storage areas, and communicating with other nearby family groups. African mole-rats ''(Fukomys anselli)'' brain differs from epigeic species. Although mole-rats are underground dwelling animals, their brains have a similar structure to other rodents. However, their somatosensory cortex is notably augmented, which then occupy the areas that are typically visual in epigeic rodents. Additionally, on bathyergidae mole-rats, their visual cortex is smaller but is significantly stronger than other similar rodents. Dollas, A., Oelschläger, H. H. A., Begall, S., Burda, H., & Malkemper, E. P. (2019). Brain atlas of the African mole-rat Fukomys anselli. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 527(11), 1885–1900. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.24647

References

*Woods, C. A. and C. W. Kilpatrick. 2005. pp 1538–1600 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference 3rd ed. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. Fukomys Mammals of Zambia Endemic fauna of Zambia Mammals described in 1999 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{rodent-stub