Nevo E, Heth G, Pratt H
Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Israel.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Feb 15;88(4):1256-60. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.4.1256.
Seismic communication, through low-frequency and patterned substrate-borne vibrations that are generated by head thumping, and which travel long distances underground, is important in the nonvisual communication of subterranean mole rats of the Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies (2n = 52, 54, 58, and 60) in Israel. This importance pertains both intraspecifically in adaptation and interspecifically in speciation. Neurophysiologic, behavioral, and anatomic findings in this study suggest that the mechanism of long-distance seismic communication is basically somatosensory and is independent of the auditory mechanism. Seismic communication thus appears to be a channel of communication important in the evolution of subterranean mammals that display major adaptation to life underground.
在以色列，东非鼹形鼠超种（2n = 52、54、58和60）的地下鼹鼠通过头部撞击产生的低频且有规律的地面传播振动进行地震通讯，这种振动能在地下远距离传播，在非视觉通讯中很重要。这种重要性既体现在种内适应方面，也体现在种间物种形成方面。本研究中的神经生理学、行为学和解剖学发现表明，长距离地震通讯的机制基本上是躯体感觉的，且独立于听觉机制。因此，地震通讯似乎是一种在对地下生活有主要适应性的地下哺乳动物进化过程中很重要的通讯渠道。
