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The naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber), also known as the sand puppy, or desert mole rat, is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa and the only species currently classified in genus Heterocephalus. It is notable for its eusocial lifestyle, nearly unique among mammals, and for a highly unusual set of physical traits that enables it to thrive in a harsh, underground environment; including a lack of pain sensation in its skin, and a nearly cold-blooded metabolism. The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5. ...
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The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ...
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Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ...
For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ...
Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ...
Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including those that produce milk, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex...
Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously-growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing. ...
Genera Georychus Cryptomys Heliophobius Bathyergus Heterocephalus The blesmols, also known as mole rats, or African mole-rats, are burrowing rodents of the family Bathyergidae. ...
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Eduard Rüppell. ...
1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
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Genera Georychus Cryptomys Heliophobius Bathyergus Heterocephalus The blesmols, also known as mole rats, or African mole-rats, are burrowing rodents of the family Bathyergidae. ...
Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously-growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing. ...
A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...
For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ...
Meat Eater ant colony swarming Fire ants Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialization found in some animals. ...
Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including those that produce milk, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex...
This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Structure of the coenzyme adenosine triphosphate, a central intermediate in energy metabolism. ...
Physical description
Typical individuals are 8–10 cm long and weigh 30–35 g. Queens are larger and may weigh well over 50 g, the largest reaching 80 g. They are well-adapted for their underground existence. Their eyes are just narrow slits, and consequently their eyesight is poor. However, they are highly adapted to moving underground, and can move backwards as fast as they move forwards. Their large, protruding teeth are used to dig. Their lips are sealed just behind their teeth while digging to avoid filling their mouths with soil. Their legs are thin and short. They have little hair (hence the common name) and wrinkled pink or yellowish skin. This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...
BIC pen cap, about 1 gram. ...
The naked mole rat is well adapted for the limited availability of oxygen within the tunnels that are its habitat: its lungs are very small and its blood has a very strong affinity for oxygen, increasing the efficiency of oxygen uptake. It has a very low respiration and metabolic rate for an animal of its size, thus using oxygen minimally. In long periods of hunger, such as a drought, its metabolic rate can reduce up to 25 percent. General Name, symbol, number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series nonmetals, chalcogens Group, period, block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) pale blue (liquid) Standard atomic weight 15. ...
The heart and lungs (from an older edition of Grays Anatomy) The lung is an organ belonging to the respiratory system and interfacing to the circulatory system of air-breathing vertebrates. ...
The naked mole rat is unique among mammals in that it is virtually cold-blooded; it cannot regulate its body temperature at all and requires an environment with a specific constant temperature in order to survive. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when temperature surrounding is very different. ...
The skin of naked mole rats lacks a key neurotransmitter called Substance P that is responsible in mammals for sending pain signals to the central nervous system. Therefore, when naked mole rats are cut, scraped or burned, they feel no pain. When injected with Substance P, however, the pain signalling works as it does in other mammals. [1] Chemical structure of D-aspartic acid, a common amino acid neurotransmitter. ...
In neuroscience, Substance P is a neuropeptide: a short-chain polypeptide that functions as a neurotransmitter and as a neuromodulator. ...
Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including those that produce milk, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex...
Pain redirects here. ...
Superficial bullet wounds In medicine, a wound is a type of physical trauma wherein the skin is torn, cut or punctured (an open wound), or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion (a closed wound). ...
Ecology and behavior
Distribution and habitat The naked mole rat is native to the drier parts of the tropical grasslands of East Africa, predominantly South Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...
Clusters averaging 75-80 live together in complex systems of burrows in arid African deserts. The tunnel systems built by naked mole rats can stretch up to two or three miles in cumulative length.[1]
Social structure and reproduction Naked mole rats are one of the two mammals that exhibit eusociality. They have a complex social structure in which only one female (the queen) and one to three males reproduce, while the rest of the members of the colony function as workers. As in certain bee species, the workers are divided along a continuum of different worker-caste behaviors instead of discrete groups[1]. Some function primarily as tunnelers, expanding the large network of tunnels within the burrow system, and some primarily as soldiers, protecting the group from outside predators. Meat Eater ant colony swarming Fire ants Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialization found in some animals. ...
This eusocial organisation social structure, similar to that found in ants, termites, and some bees and wasps, is very rare among mammals. The Damaraland Mole Rat (Coetomys damarensis) is the only other eusocial mammal currently known. Meat Eater ant colony swarming Fire ants Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialization found in some animals. ...
For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). ...
Families Mastotermitidae Kalotermitidae Termopsidae Hodotermitidae Rhinotermitidae Serritermitidae Termitidae Termites, sometimes known as white ants, are a group of social insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera. ...
For other uses, see Western honey bee and Bee (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Wasp (disambiguation). ...
Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including those that produce milk, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex...
Binomial name Cryptomys damarensis (Ogilby, 1838) The Damaraland Mole Rat (Cryptomys damarensis) is a burrowing rodent found in sub-Saharan Africa. ...
The relationships between the queen and the breeding males may last for many years. A behaviour called reproductive suppression is believed to be the reason why the other females do not reproduce, meaning that the infertility in the working females is only temporary, and not genetic. Queens live from 13 to 18 years, and are extremely hostile to other females behaving like queens, or producing hormones for becoming queens. When the queen dies, another female takes her place, sometimes after a violent struggle with her competitors. Meat Eater ant colony swarming Fire ants Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialisation found in some animals. ...
Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a man or a woman to contribute to conception. ...
Males and females are able to breed at one year of age. Gestation is about 70 days. A litter typically ranges from three to twelve pups, but may run as large as 25. In the wild, naked mole-rats usually breed once a year, if the litter survives. In captivity, they breed all year long. The young are born blind and weigh about 2 g. The queen nurses them for the first month; after which the other members of the colony feed them feces until they are old enough to eat solid food.
Diet Radicivores[citation needed], the naked mole rats feed primarily on very large tubers (weighing as much as 1000 times the body weight of a typical mole rat) that they find deep underground through their mining operations, though they also eat their own feces (coprophagia).[1] A single tuber can provide a colony with a long-term source of food—lasting for months, or even years[1], as they eat the succulent inside but leave the outside, allowing the tuber to regenerate. Symbiotic bacteria in their intestines help them digest the fibres. For fungal genus, see tuber (genus). ...
Coprophagia is the consumption of feces, from the Greek copros (feces) and phagein (eat). ...
For other uses, see Symbiosis (disambiguation). ...
Phyla Actinobacteria Aquificae Chlamydiae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Lentisphaerae Nitrospirae Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Verrucomicrobia Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are unicellular microorganisms. ...
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Image File history File links Size of this preview: 713 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1131 × 951 pixel, file size: 621 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Longevity The naked mole rat is also of interest because it is extra-ordinarily long lived for a rodent of its size. The secret of their longevity is debated, but is thought to be related to the fact that they can shut down their metabolism during hard times, and so prevent oxidative damage. Todd Karhu, an expert on the species, explains this by saying "They're living their life in pulses." [2]
Conservation status Naked mole rats are not threatened. Despite their tough living conditions, naked mole rats are quite widespread and numerous in the drier regions of East Africa. Eastern Africa (UN subregion) East African Community Central African Federation (defunct) geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ...
In popular culture - A naked mole rat named Rufus is featured in the Disney Channel cartoon Kim Possible.
- The Errol Morris documentary Fast, Cheap and Out of Control features a naked mole rat specialist.
- A children's book, The Naked Mole-Rat Letters, by Mary Amato, is about a young girl who sends fabricated e-mails to her father's girlfriend, a zookeeper.
- The consumer website Consumerama awards a weekly "Naked Mole-Rats of Marketing Award" for shameless consumer abuse.
Rufus is a fictional character in the Disney animated television series Kim Possible, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. ...
For Disney Channel in other countries, see Disney Channel around the world. ...
This article is about the television series. ...
Errol Morris Errol Morris (born February 5, 1948) is an American Academy Award winning documentary film director. ...
Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ...
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control is a 1997 non-fiction film by documentary filmmaker Errol Morris. ...
References - Maree & Faulkes (2004). Heterocephalus glaber. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species merits a "Least Concern" conservation status
- Dawkins, Richard [1976]. The Selfish Gene, 30th anniversary edition, Oxford University Press. 0-19-929115-2.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ...
The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...
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