Stuff You Should Know – Naked Mole Rats: A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Intro

In this episode of “Stuff You Should Know,” the hosts dive into the fascinating world of naked mole rats. These unique creatures from sub-Saharan Africa have captured the curiosity of scientists due to their distinctive physical features and social behaviors. Join the hosts as they explore the mysteries of naked mole rats and uncover their incredible adaptations.

Main Takeaways

Physical Features and Adaptations

• Naked mole rats are rodents in the family Bathyergidae, located in sub-Saharan Africa.
• They have useless eyes and tiny ear flaps, but their teeth are a unique adaptation for digging and sensing the world.
• Their teeth function as a sense organ, with about a third of their brain’s touch cortex dedicated to them.
• Naked mole rats have 25% of their muscle mass invested in their jaws, making their teeth like a shovel-chisel combination.
• They use their teeth to dig tunnels and carry dirt in an assembly line-like system.
• Naked mole rats are hairless with some sensory hairs on their faces and tails.
• They can go backwards just as fast as they can go forward and are just as coordinated.
• Naked mole rats can survive in low oxygen, high carbon dioxide environments due to their adaptation of using fructose anaerobically.

Social Behaviors and Colony Structure

• Naked mole rats have a highly specialized society modeled after Charles Bronson in The Great Escape.
• They dig tunnels like a conveyor belt, with one rat digging, others sweeping, and a larger rat kicking dirt outside to form molehills.
• They live in a tight, close-knit community and crawl all over each other despite having enormous habitats.
• Naked mole rats can live in colonies of 70 to 300 individuals in small tunnels underground.
• They have a complex social structure that is still not fully understood, but they have little chirps that signal their social order.
• The queen is at the top of the social structure and is the only one that creates litters.
• Mole rats can have up to 27 pups in a single litter, and they can have many litters throughout their lifetime.
• Naked mole rats almost never leave their colony, but they may form a new colony peacefully and leave the existing queen in place.

Unique Adaptations and Longevity

• Naked mole rats do not age in the traditional sense, and researchers believe a molecule called hyaluron may be the reason why they are resistant to tumors and cancer.
• They regulate their body temperature through behavioral thermoregulation.
• Naked mole rats don’t drink water, they get water from what they eat.
• They have a unique strategy for digesting hard tubers by eating their own poop and each other’s poop.
• Feeding on poop and rolling in it is a way for the colony to impart a distinct smell and identify outsiders.
• Naked mole rats have different chambers for different activities, including bathrooms and bedrooms.
• They have loose, stretchy skin with hyaluron, allowing their body to move inside their skin without their skin moving.
• Naked mole rats don’t experience pain like other mammals do, and their skin doesn’t respond to acid or capsaicin.

Summary

Physical Features and Adaptations

Naked mole rats are unique rodents with distinctive physical features and adaptations. Unlike other members of their family, they have useless eyes and tiny ear flaps. However, their teeth are a remarkable adaptation that they use for digging and sensing the world. With about a third of their brain’s touch cortex dedicated to their teeth, these rodents have highly specialized dental structures. Their teeth function as a sense organ, allowing them to navigate their underground tunnels efficiently. This adaptation, along with their muscular jaws, makes their teeth resemble a shovel-chisel combination. Naked mole rats use their teeth to dig tunnels and carry dirt in an assembly line-like system.

Social Behaviors and Colony Structure

Naked mole rats have a complex social structure and live in tight-knit colonies. They exhibit a highly specialized society, with individuals performing specific roles within the colony. These rodents dig tunnels like a conveyor belt, with one rat digging, others sweeping, and a larger rat kicking dirt outside to form molehills. Despite having vast habitats, they crawl all over each other, emphasizing their close-knit community. The social structure is still not fully understood, but the rats communicate through little chirps that signal their social order. The queen, at the top of the social hierarchy, is the only one that reproduces and creates litters. Mole rats can have multiple litters throughout their lifetime, with each litter consisting of up to 27 pups.

Unique Adaptations and Longevity

Naked mole rats possess unique adaptations that contribute to their longevity and survival in harsh environments. They have a remarkable resistance to tumors and cancer, which researchers attribute to a molecule called hyaluron. This molecule has been found to extend the lifespan of mice when introduced to their system. Additionally, naked mole rats regulate their body temperature through behavioral thermoregulation, despite not being able to regulate their own temperature. They rely on the food they eat, which includes roots, bulbs, rhizomes, and tubers, to obtain water. They have a unique strategy for digesting hard tubers by eating their own poop and each other’s poop. This behavior helps transfer gut microbiota and hormones to protect against disease and care for the pups. The colony also uses poop to impart a distinct smell and identify outsiders.

Conclusion

Naked mole rats are truly fascinating creatures with their unique physical features, social behaviors, and adaptations. Their dental structures, highly specialized society, and resistance to tumors and cancer make them a subject of great interest among scientists. Despite their unusual characteristics, naked mole rats have thrived in their underground habitats in sub-Saharan Africa. Their ability to adapt to low oxygen and high carbon dioxide environments, as well as their efficient tunneling techniques, showcase their remarkable survival skills. As researchers continue to study these enigmatic rodents, there is still much to be discovered about their complex social structure and the secrets behind their longevity.