Naked mole-rat
Naked mole-rat - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naked mole-rat
Temporal range: 4.3–0 Ma
Temporal range: 4.3–0 Ma
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Rodentia
Parvorder:Phiomorpha
Family:Heterocephalidae
Landry, 1957; Patterson, 2014
Landry, 1957; Patterson, 2014
Species:
H. glaber
Heterocephalus glaber
Distribution of the naked mole-rat
Various aged naked mole-rats.
The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), also known as the sand puppy,[4] is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa. It is closely related to the blesmols and is the only species in the genus Heterocephalus of the family Heterocephalidae.[5] The naked mole-rat exhibits a highly unusual set of physical and behavioral traits that allow it to thrive in a harsh underground environment; most notably its being the only mammalian thermoconformer with an almost entirely ectothermic (cold-blooded) form of body temperature regulation,[6] as well as exhibiting a complex social structure split between reproductive and non-reproductive castes, making it and the closely-related Damaraland mole-rat (Fukomys damarensis) the only widely recognized examples of eusociality (the highest classification of sociality) in mammals.[7][8]
The naked 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, Bathyergidae, more recent investigation places it in a separate family, Heterocephalidae.[9][10][11] The naked mole-rat is also remarkable for its longevity and its resistance to cancer and oxygen deprivation.
