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25 November 2006

Naked mole rats are fascinating! [More:]

essexjan's Flickr pic reminded me.

I was introduced to them by Errol Morris, and I've seen them live and in person at the Portland Zoo.

They're the only mammal known to have a eusocial organization social structure (like bees and ants), where there is a queen and sterile workers. They also have a social caste system: some of the workers are tunnelers, some are guards, etc.

Also, they're basically cold-blooded, they can't feel pain, and they have the largest litter size among mammals: the litter size is usually twice the size as the queen has teats, which breaks all the mammal rules. The pups peaceably share nursing time.

They have highly efficient hemoglobin that captures oxygen from the bloodstream, and they breathe levels of carbon dioxide that would suffocate other mammals. They actually seal their burrows!

And finally, they live about twice as long as they should, according to their size and their metabolisms, but scientists can't figure out why.

I like 'em.
They're pretty awesome. I like the Oregon Zoo ad with a naked mole rat and the caption Do naked mole rats have nightmares about wearing pants?
posted by cmonkey 25 November | 17:38
I saw them at the Philadelphia Zoo this year, but they kept moving so fast that my pictures came out blurry and I deleted them. Their teeth are astonishingly huge for the size of the mole. And thank you for the info, Specklet. That was more than I learned from the placard at the zoo.
posted by redvixen 25 November | 18:27
They use those big choppers for digging! And their lips close behind their teeth to keep dirt out of their mouth.

Also, they can move backwards as fast as they can move forward, and they have super loose skin to allow them to squirm past each other in tunnels. (Ew.)
posted by Specklet 25 November | 18:47
Rufus!
posted by Otis 25 November | 20:48
The Naked Mole-Rat Cam is down. :(
posted by loiseau 26 November | 02:02
It's back up, loiseau!

:man, they have cams for everything now, don't they?:
posted by redvixen 26 November | 13:40
I'm sure that if they were the size of, say, pigs, and had a high intelligence, we'd be doomed. DOOMED I tell you.
posted by Zack_Replica 26 November | 15:37
I was thinking about choral/chorus/vocal music || Different animals you can find

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