Table 1 Characteristics of seven studied species of subterranean rodents and their habitats. Means ± SD of body masses are given.

Species (n)	Social organisation	Body mass (g)	TNZ (°C)	Burrow temperature (°C)	Altitude (m a.s.l.)	Locality (GPS)	Climatic zone	AP (mm)	AMT (°C)	MT (°C)	TAR (°C)
B. suillus (10)	Solitary	694 ± 146	25–31⁵⁰	12.4–31.6^a	252	Darling, R. of South Africa (33° 22′ S, 18° 25′ E)	Subtropics	435	17.6	6.7	20.8
G. capensis (9)	Solitary	148 ± 48	26.3–34⁴²	12.0–30.7^a 9.8–36.3^b 10.2–29.7⁵⁵	252	Darling, R. of South Africa (33° 22′ S, 18° 25′ E)	Subtropics	435	17.6	6.7	20.8
C. hottentotus (10)	Social	71 ± 13	27–30⁵¹	15.9–27.8⁵⁵	252	Darling, R. of South Africa (33° 22′ S, 18° 25′ E)	Subtropics	435	17.6	6.7	20.8
F. anselli (9)	Social	80 ± 11	26–30⁵³	18–26⁵⁶^e	1320	Lusaka, Zambia (15° 28′ S, 28° 25′ E)	Tropics	824	19.9	7.7	22.2
F. “Nsanje” (10)	Social	139 ± 27	27–34⁵²	–	53	Nsanje, Malawi (16° 55′ S, 35° 16′ E)	Tropics	842	25.7	14	21.8
S. cyanus (5)	Social	101 ± 19	26–33⁵	8–32.1⁵⁷	Not known	Not known, Chile	Subtropics/temperate	377	13.1	1.9	22.0
N. galili (20)	Solitary	171 ± 32	26.4–(> 33)⁸³^,d	5.4–34.6^c	770	Gush Halav, Israel (33° 02′ N, 35° 27′ E)	Subtropics	791	16.7	1.3	28.2

Numbers in parentheses after the species names represent sample sizes.
TNZ, thermoneutral zone; AP, annual precipitation; AMT, annual mean temperature; MT, minimal temperature; TAR, temperature annual range (climatic parameters were downloaded from the Worldclim database⁴⁹; due to the unknown locality of S. cyanus, climatic data from the whole species range were used).
^aJ. Okrouhlík, unpublished data, soil temperature 30 cm deep, yearly range in 2017/2018, measured every hour.
^bJ. Okrouhlík, unpublished data, soil temperature 10 cm deep, yearly range in 2017/2018, measured every hour.
^cM. Lövy, unpublished data, soil temperature 20 cm deep, yearly range in 2014/2015, measured every 15 min.
^dUpper limit is not known, but our unpublished data indicate that it is above 33 °C in N. galili.
^eWinter season.

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