Survival of naked mole-rats marked by implantable transponders and toe-clipping

Abstract

We compared survival of free-living naked mole-rats, Heterocephalus glaber, marked by toe-clipping and implantable transponder chips. Although survival was marginally higher for toe-clipped animals than for those with transponder chips in five of six colonies, no significant differences were found between the two marking techniques. Comparison of the costs and benefits of the two marking techniques suggests that toe-clipping is preferable for marking small fossorial mammals in remote areas.