A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2015 / The southern African hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis) is the only native hedgehog species in South Africa. The published distribution of Atelerix frontalis is based on old occurrence records and few studies have investigated the species' current range or fundamental niche. In addition, Atelerix frontalis commonly exist in many urban areas but it is unclear what resources the species requires to survive and reproduce in these environments. Knowledge of the species' climatic envelope and resource requirements will enable us to assess the risk of population decline, protect the geographic areas expected to sustain future populations and estimate the innate ability of the species to respond to environmental change. My research focused on establishing the fundamental niche of Atelerix frontalis, as well as assessing their ability to cope with climatic and anthropogenic change. I assessed these ideas by obtaining Atelerix frontalis occurrence records (via museums, FreeMe Rehabilitation Centre and public reported sightings) and conducting species distribution modelling, resource selection analysis and assessment of demographic patterns in urban environments. The species distribution models indicated that Atelerix frontalis occurred predominately in climatic regions with dry, cold winters and wet summers, climatic conditions that correspond with the savanna and grassland biomes of South Africa. The range of suitable habitats for Atelerix frontalis can be expected to decline in the future, although high lying areas, such as the Drakensberg mountain range, may offer suitable refugia to sustain populations. Atelerix frontalis were common in urban environments, and within the Greater Johannesburg area, they favoured Egoli granite grassland vegetation and albic plinthosol soils. My research suggests that Atelerix frontalis often occurred in close proximity to roads and human settlements, resources that are likely to be selected for feeding and dispersal opportunities. Urban Atelerix frontalis sightings were closer to all the environmental features selected than the general population, indicating behavioural plasticity through niche differentiation. Atelerix frontalis demographic data indicated post-torpor breeding in spring and summer, as well as juvenile dispersal in late summer and autumn. Urban dwelling Atelerix frontalis populations appeared to be sustainable, with the majority of Atelerix frontalis recovered by FreeMe Rehabilitation Centre in good body condition. Atelerix frontalis survival and persistence in South Africa seems precarious given the species fundamental niche requirements and the extensive anthropogenic transformation of savanna and grassland biomes. However the species’ ability to survive and reproduce in urban environments may greatly benefit future populations, through exploitation of refugia in transformed urban habitats.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2000. / Adviser: Susan G. Ernst. Submitted to the Dept. of Biology. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-118). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Akademisk avhandling--Universitet i Bergen. / Extra t.p., with thesis statement, inserted. Bibliography: p. [68]-77.

Akademisk avhandling--Universitet i Bergen. / Extra t.p., with thesis statement, inserted. Bibliography: p. [68]-77.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

There is increasing evidence that homeothermy (the maintenance of a high and stable body temperature-Tb) as observed in modern mammals was derived from an ancestral heterothermic (flexible Tb regulation) state. One of main hypotheses for why this occurred is that homeothermy benefits parental care. As such the study of the thermoregulatory physiology during reproduction in an otherwise heterothermic mammal can provide insights into the evolution of homeothermic endothermy in mammals. This thesis presents data collected over three reproductive seasons from one such mammal, the greater hedgehog tenrec (Setifer setosus, Tenrecidae). Flow-through respirometry was used to measure resting metabolism over a range of ambient temperatures (Ta). At low Ta S. setosus demonstrated a high propensity for torpor and highly labile Tb. This high degree of heterothermy was abandoned during reproduction; pregnant and lactating females maintained higher Tb and metabolic rates. Tb obtained from free-ranging animals showed similar trends. Reproductive females had less variability in Tb, whereas non-reproductive females and males had a higher propensity for torpor as well as higher overall Tb lability. These data indicate a larger degree of homeothermy during reproduction. Concurrent with the collection of physiological data, the use of radio-transmitters, implanted into the peritoneal cavity along with the temperature data-loggers, allowed for novel observations on the life-history of this little-studied species. The most striking finding was that S. setosus demonstrates an exceptional capacity to assimilate energy. In the short active season males showed high levels of activity and occupied home ranges larger than predicted for their body size. Females, in addition to maintaining a higher degree of homeothermy, can have up to three litters per year. Over this same time period individuals of both sex double their body mass in preparation for hibernation. Such high energetic outputs are thought to be incompatible with the low basal metabolic rates which this species displays. An explanation of this incongruity can be found in the high Ta at the study site, which negated most thermoregulatory costs. In reproductive females, the fitness benefits of small increments in homeothermy seem to be offset by the relatively low fitness costs involved in minimal thermoregulatory energy demands. Homeothermy during reproduction is therefore likely to have been a first step in the progressive evolution from heterothermic to homeothermic endothermy in mammals. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.

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The near-threatened southern African hedgehog, Atelerix frontalis (A. Smith, 1831) is divided into two subspecies based on its disjunct distribution of two allopatric populations. This is despite reservations because its nature and extent of geographic variation remains virtually unknown. The present study, therefore, represents the first analysis of geographic variation within A. frontalis and is based on a multidisciplinary approach involving traditional and two-dimensional geometric morphometric analysis of the cranium and mandible, and molecular data in order to test the validity of the subspecies designations. The results of all univariate and multivariate analyses of both traditional and geometric morphometric data were congruent and provide evidence for a north-westerly–south-easterly clinal pattern of variation with cranial configuration being positively correlated with both latitude and longitude. These results are supported by Neighbour-joining, Maximum Likelihood, and Maximum Parsimony analyses of Cyt-b and ND2 data that revealed no variation across a 377 bp and 1034 bp region sequenced for each gene, respectively, while a 377 bp control region sequenced revealed low levels of variation between representatives of the two recognized subspecies (0.54 % pairwise sequence divergence). These results together with the lack of pronounced steps in the clinal pattern of variation suggest that the recognition of subspecies within A. frontalis may be untenable such that its disjunct distribution may represent a recent divergence event. If this is the case, then the results in this study may have implications in the conservation management strategies for A. frontalis, since it could be argued that one disjunct population could act as a source population for the other. However, it is recommended that prior to the implementation of conservation management plans for the species, further studies involving a wide range of alternative systematic techniques need to be undertaken first in order to gain a better understanding of the nature and extent of geographic variation within A. frontalis. These suggested studies should focus on comprehensive sampling and analyses involving a range of environmental and/or climatic variables in an attempt to identify factors that may explain the disjunct distribution and the clinal pattern of variation within the southern African hedgehog. / Dissertation (MS)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

The feeding behaviour of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus L.) has been investigated in a pastoral environment. Sampling methods that caused the minimum interference to the natural population were used. The relative importance of the various prey species in the diet were analysed by occurrence, relative volume and direct counting techniques. Problems often associated with the use of direct counting were successfully overcome. It was established that the main animal food items in the hedgehog diet were earwigs, lepidopteran larvae, beetles, harvestmen, dung flies, slugs, and earthworms. Small quantities of a large number of other species were also consumed. Several variations in the diet were found to be related to changes in the availability of food species. Although hedgehogs are capable of consuming large numbers of grass grub beetles (Costelytra zealandica) during the flight season it is concluded that they are unlikely to provide any effective measure of biological control of this pasture pest. Hedeghog diet was not influenced significantly by the sex of the animal, or by pasture irrigation. It was demonstrated that the feeding rhythm of captive animals, fed under laboratory conditions, was similar to that observed in the field. Observation showed that hedgehogs were active for an average of eight hours per night, with a period of maximum activity between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Animals tended to follow relatively fixed routes on successive nights. Excluding nestlings, the population density in an irrigated clover-ryegrass pasture was found to vary from four (winter) to eight (summer) animals per hectare. The average minimum feeding range of these animals was 2.4 hectares, although their feeding ranges overlapped considerably.