Naked Mole Rats. A naked mole rat held by Dr Chris G. Faulkes, Reader in Evolutionary Ecology, School of Biological & Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary,
Naked Mole Rats. A naked mole rat held by Dr Chris G. Faulkes, Reader in Evolutionary Ecology, School of Biological & Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London. The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), also known as the sand puppy or desert mole rat, is a burrowing rodent closely related to the blesmols, native to parts of East Africa, and is the only species currently classified in the genus Heterocephalus. The genus is classified as being in the family Bathyergidae or in its own family, Heterocephalidae. The naked mole-rat, the Damaraland mole-rat, and Mechow's mole-rat[citation needed] are eusocial mammals, the highest classification of sociality. It has a highly unusual set of physical traits that enable it to thrive in an otherwise harsh underground environment; it is the only mammalian thermoconformer, almost entirely ectothermic (cold-blooded) in how it regulates body temperature. The mole rat lacks pain sensitivity in its skin, and has very low metabolic and respiratory rates. While formerly considered to belong to the same family as other African mole-rats, the Bathyergidae, more recent investigation places the naked mole-rat in a separate family, Heterocephalidae. The mole rat is also remarkable for its longevity and its resistance to cancer and oxygen deprivation.
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Photo credit: © Antonio Olmos / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: biology, blesmols, burrowing, desert, mole, naked, nocturnal, puppy, rat, research, researcher, rodent, rodents, science, scientist
