10 Things About Naked Mole Rats You Didn’t Know You Needed to Know
In case you missed it, our production of the musical adaptation of Mo Willems critically-acclaimed book, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, is now available for streaming. To prepare you for this rockin’ musical about being yourself, we’re here to give you 10 facts about naked mole rats that you didn’t know you needed to know!
1. It’s a pitch-black life
Naked mole rats spend almost their entire life in the dark! They live underground in a series of tunnels they create, meaning there’s hardly any sunlight. They aren’t blind, though! Their eyes are just really small, and they will often keep them closed when they run through their tunnels.
2. They’ve got tunnels for miles
It takes a lot of naked mole rats to make up a colony (anywhere from 20 to 300), so they need a lot of tunnels to live in. A single naked mole rat colony can have up to 2.5 miles of tunnels at their disposal over an area of almost six football fields. They designate parts of each tunnel system for different purposes, such as eating, resting, and even bathrooms.
3. A dentist’s worst nightmare
Naked mole rats have some pretty wacky teeth! Their iconic front incisors can actually be moved independently of each other, which means that they can move those teeth like pairs of chopsticks.
4. An interesting diet
Remember how naked mole rats have entire tunnels for bathrooms in their colony? Well, since indoor plumbing hasn’t made it to the naked mole rat world yet, they have to get rid of that waste somehow: they eat it! Naked mole rats practice coprophagy, which is the act of eating your own feces. They do this for a reason, though. There isn’t a lot to eat underground, so coprophagy helps them get the most nutrients possible!
5. One Queen to rule them all
Naked mole rats are eusocial, which means that their society is organized into a hierarchy. There are tons of soldier naked mole rats and there are tons of worker naked mole rats. There is only one queen, though! She is the only female naked mole rat that will produce offspring, so all new naked mole rats that are born into a colony during a single queen’s reign will come from her.
6. They aren’t big fans of water fountains
That’s because naked mole rats don’t drink water! They consume a largely plant-based diet (aside from their, um, poop), which contains plenty of water. They only eat the undersides of plants and normally get full before eating the entirety of it, so they can keep coming back for more meals and more water as they please.
7. They should be professional breath-holders
Naked mole rats can go a crazy amount of time with little to no oxygen. Studies have shown that naked mole rats can survive just fine in an atmosphere with only 5% oxygen (that’s less oxygen than there is at the top of Mount Everest). It’s unhealthy for humans to be in a situation with an oxygen level less than 19.5%, so that just shows how skilled naked mole rats are in adapting to a low-oxygen environment.
8. Naked mole rats can take a punch, too
Studies have suggested that in addition to surviving dangerously low oxygen levels, naked mole rats have a very high pain tolerance. They have been shown to brush off everything from acid to extreme heat to physical pain. They really are tough.
9. They could be the key to beating diseases
Not only are they tough and able to withstand low oxygen, but they are also resistant to many diseases, including cancer! Scientists have never found cancer in naked mole rats and have begun to study the naked mole rat genome in hopes of finding clues that could help us fight cancer and other deadly diseases.
10. Maybe that’s why naked mole rats live so long
Naked mole rats take the prize of the longest-lived rodents because they can survive up to 30 years, an insanely old age for such a small mammal. As we’ve seen, they are pretty resistant to basically everything, so that could be a factor in their long lives. Only time will tell!
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Virtual Rock Experience is now streaming!
