ASEASONAL REPRODUCTION IN THE HOTTENTOT GOLDEN MOLE, AMBLYSOMUS-HOTTENTOTUS, FROM THE SUMMER RAINFALL REGION OF SOUTH-AFRICA

The Hottentot golden mole (Amblysomus hottentotus A. Smith, 1829) is a small, blind, fossorial insectivore that belongs to the family Chryso chloridae. The timing of reproduction in chrysochlorids is of particul ar interest, firstly, from a conservation perspective because little i s known about the breeding biology and recruitment rates of most speci es, 13 of which are included in the IUCN Threatened Taxa categories;(1 ) and secondly, because the extent to which reproduction is affected b y the modified microclimate and food availability associated with the subterranean environment remains unknown. The results of our histologi cal study have shown that in A. hottentotus, spermatogenesis is contin uous and the females are aseasonally polyoestrous.