Together or alone? Huddling energetic savings in three social mole-rat species of genus Fukomys. A dispersal perspective

African mole-rats (Bathyergidae) are strictly subterranean rodents distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the soil layer provides a temperature buffer, the temperature in their burrows is usually below their thermoneutral zone and thermogenesis is necessary to maintain a stable body temperature. In social bathyergids, an important mechanism for decreasing the thermoregulatory cost is social thermoregulation in the form of huddling. The effect of huddling may be of special importance during forming of a new family as only two adults are present and social species are known for higher heat losses from their bodies compared to solitary mole-rats.