The Unique Characteristics and Adaptations of Naked Mole Rats
TLDR Naked mole rats are a distinct type of rodent known for their strange appearance and unique adaptations. They have strong jaws for digging, live in tight-knit communities, can survive in low oxygen environments, eat their own poop for digestion, and have a unique social structure similar to ant colonies or bee hives.
Timestamped Summary
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Naked mole rats are rodents in the order rodentia and are known for their strange appearance.
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Naked mole rats are a distinct type of mole rat that some scientists believe should be classified as their own family due to their unique characteristics, including their appearance, living habits, and adaptations.
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Naked mole rats have teeth that function as a sense organ, and their jaws are incredibly strong and make up a large portion of their muscle mass. They use their teeth and jaws for digging, carrying dirt, and creating their habitats.
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Naked mole rats live in tight-knit communities, crawling on top of each other despite having enormous tunnel systems, and they are just as good at going backwards as forwards.
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Naked mole rats have adapted to survive in low oxygen, high carbon dioxide environments by using a fructose pump that allows them to burn fructose anaerobically for energy, and they can survive with as little as 5% oxygen for at least five hours. They are generally peaceful within their colony, but can be aggressive towards outsiders and predators, and they practice inbreeding with the queen selecting a limited number of breeding males.
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Naked mole rats live a long time in captivity, reproduce with their own kin due to limited breeding options, are super inbred, regulate their body temperature behaviorally, don't drink water but get it from the plants they eat, and work together without a regular sleep cycle.
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Naked mole rats eat their own poop as a strategy to digest hard tubers, and they also transfer gut microbiota and hormones through poop, while using it to establish a colony smell and communicate with each other.
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Naked mole rats are part of a use social group, similar to ant colonies or bee hives, and their use social structure was discovered in the 80s or 90s when researchers realized that only the queen reproduces and the rest of the colony is made up of workers and soldiers.
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Naked mole rats have the ability to change their body size and lengthen their spine in order to have larger litters over time, and they can have up to 27 pups in a single litter.
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Naked mole rats have loose and stretchy skin due to the presence of hyaluronon in their connective tissue, which allows their body to move inside their skin without their skin moving, and they do not experience pain like other mammals do.
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