As you can tell from the picture, we are going to talk about another incredibly cute animal today. As Glenn over at Man Over Board would say, “It has the face only a mother could love”. So what is this hairless rodent? Well it is a naked mole rat also known as the sand puppy, not to be confused with the mud puppy which we discussed in Wild Fact #973. Besides the ability to gross out human beings the naked mole rat has evolved some interesting adaptations which we will discuss today.
Before we get into the adaptations let’s learn a little bit about his cute little rodent. The naked mole rat is a small rodent that spends most of its time below the surface. Similar, to bees, the naked mole rat will live in communities of several dozen relatives. They have a queen mole rat which is the only one that is able to reproduce. Other naked mole rats will tend to the queen or dig tunnels and gather food for their clan. This type of living arrangement is very unusual for mammals.
It seems that animals with an unique environment have evolved unique adaptations to survive in that environment. The naked mole rat is no different and has several characteristics that makes living undergound possible. First there is the usual underground adaptations such as small eyes that don’t see very well. Let’s face, eye sight isn’t the most important feature when you live in the dark. As well, the naked mole rat has thin and short legs yet they are very capable of moving around in their tunnels. In fact, the naked mole rat can move just as fast backwards as it can moving forward. At this point, you might be asking how can they possibly dig all those tunnels with such small wimpy legs. Well, they actually use their large protruding teeth to mine the underground world. Even more interesting is how their lips are sealed just behind their teeth. Obviously, this prevents their mouths from filling up with sand while digging. I would think that would be a very important feature. The blood of the naked mole rat is excellent at taking in oxygen which allows this rodent the ability to live in an oxygen deprived environment. As well, they have a very low respiration and metabolic rate in order to conserve the all important oxygen. Finally, the naked mole rat does not feel pain. They are actually missing the neurotransmitter that sends the pain signals to the brain. What benefit could this serve? You mean other than never having to tap out in a naked mole rat UFC Event? Actually, the naked mole rat has a large amount of acid built up in their tissues as a result of living in a world that is poorly ventilated, and as a result contains high amounts of carbon dioxide. The lack of this neurotransmitter allows them to have this acid build-up and not constantly be keeled over in pain.
Naked Mole Rat Fast Fact: Recently researchers have identified that the brain tissue of the naked mole rat can actually withstand oxygen deprivation for over 30 minutes. This may give researchers some clues in dealing with brain injuries resulting from heart attacks, strokes and other injuries where the brain is deprived of oxygen. I highly recommend checking out this interesting article here.
What a cutie!(ha,ha) If only the queen mole rat can reproduce, how many babies can these moles rats have in one litter?
Thanks!
The naked mole rat is definitely cute compared to your oldest son, that is for sure! The average litter size is around 11 but can be as high as 28. Another interesting fact is the naked mole rat is the longest living rodent and can survive up to 28 years! That is pretty impressive for an animal that size.
I guess those tiny ears keep dirts out, too! I hate getting my ears cleaned.
I never thought of that but I bet you are right. The Q-Tip sales must be down in the Naked Mole Rat community.
It would appear that they adapted to the dark because of their appearance. I think even Glenn would agree that not even their mother would say their cute!
What a fascinating world we live in.
hahaha! Yes, their appearance is definitely suited to the dark. You and Glenn have made me laugh today with your comments!
Definitely a fascinating but bizarre world we live in!
Where do you find these fellows? I’ve seen some weird looking moles, but I have to admit this one takes the cake.
I thought this one might take the cake on the ugly factor. I am going to have to do a fact on a cute cuddly animal just so people aren’t afraid to visit Wild Facts.
Just stopped by to see what wild and crazy animal Nathan has found today. I must say you have out did yourself. I thought the bat was ugly, this mole makes him look like a Greek God or even Goddess.
Thank God these creatures hate the light and love to be in the ground. As long as they stay there, I won’t complain.
Lucky they have bad eyesight, cuse if they only knew…..
And you’re right Linda, if I was their mother I would be guilty of abandonment 🙂
Makes the bat look like a Greek God! Hahahahaha! You have definitely made me laugh today, Glenn!
You may be onto something with the reasoning behind the bad eyesight. I bet you are right! It isn’t that they don’t need good eyesight down there. It’s that they don’t WANT good eyesight!
I don’t think you would abandon your little naked mole rat, Glenn. I think you are all talk!
That mole rat looks awfully familiar. I just cant place where I have seen it before.
LOL!
So many possible answers to this comment. I think I will take a pass on responding though.
Thanks for stopping by!
I love naked mole rats! They just look like they need someone to smile at them.
You are the first person to say you love Naked Mole Rats! You are probably right though, they probably could use someone to smile at them. Maybe provide them with a little bit of an ego boost.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
This is quite possibly the coolest animal I’ve ever learned about! What remarkable differences they have in comparison to other animals. Thanks Nathan!
Here is another cool article that talks about scientists wanting to discover their longevity secrets.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10088502.stm
Thanks for the link, Céline. You can always count on the BBC to have interesting articles. How did you end up finding this link??
The link was sent to me because it was so cool. Then I thought I would look to see if you talked about it yet – and of course you did. Surprisingly, you covered some even cooler facts about naked mole rats. I think these are my new favourite animals now because they such unique characteristics! These little creatures will probably keep those scientists busy for a while!
Thanks Nathan!
I am impressed that somebody else realized how cool the Naked Mole Rat is. Always nice to know that other people appreciate the interesting aspects of wildlife.
I bet there are not too many people in this world that consider the Naked Mole Rat as their favourite animal.
Thanks for the interest!
naked mole rats are sooooooo facinating to meeeeee i wanna know soooo much more. by the way nice facts