Concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were assessed in body tissues of a solitary subterranean rodent, the silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) from the African endemic family Bathyergidae. The mean concentrations of cooper and zinc in animals captured in Malawi were higher in liver compared to muscle (18.3 mg.kg-1 vs. 8.8 mg.kg-1 of dry weight for copper; 170.3 mg.kg-1 vs. 101.2 mg.kg-1 for zinc). No important differences were found in oncentration of heavy metals between animals captured in different habitats (grassland vs. cultivated crops) or between sexes. Very low concentrations of lead (0.41 mg.kg-1 in liver, 0.25 mg.kg-1 in muscle) and cadmium (0.09 mg.kg-1 in liver, 0.07 mg.kg-1 in muscle) indicate no health risk connected with local consumption of silvery mole-rats in the area under study.
Andrya cuniculi (Blanchard, 1891) (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae) is redescribed from Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.) from Spain. Large ranges of variability in body length and width, testes number and position of the cirrus sac were observed. An external seminal vesicle covered with small glandular cells is present. The pattern of development of the uterus is similar to that of Andrya rhopalocephala (Riehm, 1881). The only reliable differential characters to distinguish A. cuniculi from A. rhopalocephala are the position of the uterus in gravid segments and the position of the testes in mature segments. The uterus of A. cuniculi occupies the median field and parts of the lateral fields but is restricted to the median field in A. rhopalocephala. Testes are distributed more symmetrically lateral to the female organs in A. cuniculi but are mostly antiporal in A. rhopalocephala.