Burrowing mole-rats (pictured) constantly dig new tunnels and change nests even when the soil is dry and tough. Subterranean rodents had been predicted to keep energy-demanding digging to a minimum during the dry season.
Radim Šumbera at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic, and his colleagues used radio-tracking to follow the underground movements of ten silvery mole-rats (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) in southern Malawi during a three-month period, then excavated and mapped the burrows.
The mole-rats switched nests about once a month, and on average each dug 0.7 metres of new tunnels daily and filled in 64% of old tunnels. Burrowing continued through the hot dry season, countering expectations that the rodents dig mostly while the soil is damp.
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Zoology: Restless rodents. Nature 457, 939 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/457939a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/457939a
