Data for Locomotor activity patterns of wild Natal mole-rats suggest entrainment of circadian activity to burrow temperatures

We utilized
an RFID reader array (LID650/608, DorsetID, The Netherlands) to monitor mole-rat activity during winter
(August - October 2020) and summer (February - April 2021). Mole-rats wree implanted with a subcutaneous transponder and released into their burrow. Animals were weighed, sexed, and assigned a reproductive class upon capture. The array was programed to scan
continuously for transponder tags within range with a read delay of 3 seconds
and save transponder codes with a time stamp. Thus, if an animal remained in
the range of the panel for longer than 3 seconds, it would have multiple
entries at 3-second intervals. The reader would then store the transponder code and the date and time. We assumed activity bouts lasted for 1 hour and animals were given an active score of 1 if a reading was detected
on the array during a 60-minute period, and a score of 0 if not detected. An
animal would not gain a further activity point until detected
beyond the activity period. Individuals captured in the group but not recorded
by the RFID reader array were assigned activity scores of zero.

Hourly air pressure, air temperature, soil temperature, and rainfall for winter 2020 and
summer 2021 were obtained from the global atmospheric reanalysis dataset
ERA5-Land which is freely available from the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which
holds the intellectual property rights of the raw climate data. The results contain modified
Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Soil temperatures in the dataset correspond to the depths of foraging
tunnels and the nest of mole-rats. The change in hourly air pressure (ΔP) from hour 1 to hour
2 was calculated to determine whether changes in air pressure predicted
activity. These
data were then combined with the activity data to determine the environmental
effects of daily and seasonal activity patterns.