More than Just a “Saber-toothed Sausage”

Eww!...Cool!...Wow! Just some of the things you might say when you see the museum's naked mole rat collection. Our naked mole rat colony arrived at the museum in 2010 to be displayed with the traveling exhibit “Extreme Mammals.” Right now they are housed behind the scenes but will soon be back on exhibit within the museum.

Although they look naked, these mole rats actually have tiny hairs all over their bodies that act like whiskers and help them get around. They don’t need lots of thick fur because they spend their lives entirely underground in their native region of East Africa. They build underground communities, much like that of some insects, and are one of two mammal species that are eusocial. This means that each mole rat colony has one designated “queen” that “rules the roost” so to speak. She will breed with a few males of the colony while the non-breeding individuals of the colony help to take care of the young and provide for (workers) and protect (soldiers) the rest of the group. Our mole rat colony here at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History currently has 37 individuals. The queen can have young between four and five times a year and have up to 27 young at a time. With ample space and food resources, a colony can contain up to 300 individuals !!!

Naked mole rats use their sharp incisors and flexible bodies to dig their extensive tunnel systems, find food (roots and tubers) and fend off predators (their main predator being snakes that enter their burrows). They work together to survive and count on each other to keep warm when the temperature drops. The mole rats do not have the ability to regulate their own body temperature and therefore need to make their homes in underground areas where the temperature remains mostly constant. But what about the low oxygen supply underground? No problem for naked mole rats. These little guys do need oxygen to survive but have highly adapted respiratory and cardiovascular systems that allow them to survive in these low oxygen environments. How amazing! And I haven’t even touched on one of the most amazing facts about these little rodents! They are immune to cancer and can live up to 30 years! This is far longer than other rodents. Scientists from around the world are highly intrigued and are doing extensive research to determine what it is that keeps naked mole rats cancer free. Many discoveries have been made as experiments continue and researchers hope to one day use these findings to develop a cure for human cancer.

Be sure to look for our naked mole rat collection within upcoming exhibits!

Melissa Terwilliger
Wildlife Specialist