Earth is home to a wild variety of species, all with their own unique characteristics. Naked mole rats are one such species. They live in burrows in dry, grassy areas in Eastern Africa. One note: although they are rodents, naked mole rats aren’t moles or rats, nor are they completely naked. One might wonder how they got the name. Some may think they look odd. 3
The hairs are visible with close inspection(all mammals have at least a bit!). They have hair on the bottom of their feet to sweep dirt and whiskers on their face and tail to help them feel around in dark tunnels, their main habitat.3
Unlike many other mammals, naked mole rats are eusocial, which means they live in colonies like ants or bees. A queen has all of the children while others work to do necessary tasks. These colonies usually have around seventy members. They dig complex networks of tunnels with nests, toilet chambers, and everything else necessary for survival. They spend their whole lives underground and even eat underground roots and tubers. If they find a big one, they often only eat through the middle so that the plant can keep growing and act like a farm!3
(Damian Entwistle, 2018)1
Because the tubers contain so much cellulose, naked mole rats have many gut bacteria to help digest it – only one of their many biological adaptations for life in the burrows. They primarily rely on touch and smell to navigate and tell others apart. Their teeth are also sensitive to touch and they dig with them. They can close their lips behind the front teeth to avoid getting dirt in their mouths.3
Naked mole rats have an unusually long lifespan, sometimes up to 30 years in captivity. Queens can reign for years.3 They are also good at surviving other things. They are much less likely to get cancer than other animals, and can live 18 minutes with no oxygen.2
Naked mole rats are a fascinating species, and this article is only an introduction. One other piece of information: naked mole rats are practically cold-blooded.3 They sometimes huddle together for warmth because they don’t produce enough in their own bodies. See if you can think of a few possible reasons why they might evolve that way!
Resources
Entwistle, Damian. Chicago – Lincoln Park Zoo, naked mole rats. Photograph. March 18, 2018. JPG.
Kupferschmidt, Kai. “Naked mole rats defy the biological law of aging.” Science.org. Last modified January 26, 2018. Accessed October 15, 2021. https://www.science.org/content/article/naked-mole-rats-defy-biological-law-aging.
Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. Accessed October 14, 2021. https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/naked-mole-rat.
Smithsonian National Zoo, Mehgan Murphy. Naked Mole-rats. Photograph. January 12, 2009. JPG.