The Naked Mole-Rat
Naked mole-rats are some of the most fascinating members of the animal kingdom - but just how unique are they? Turns out, they diverged from their nearest relative more than 31 MILLION years...
==========
You may be familiar with the naked mole rat, but did you know they are insect-like, cancer-immune, poop eating, cold-blooded aliens of the mammalian world? They're so extremely different from any other animal you'd think they'd stand pretty far apart from their mammalian relatives and you would be correct. Field Museum mammalogist Bruce Patterson, together with Yale post-doctoral researcher Nate Upham have determined these animals are so special, the deserve to not only be in their own species or genus, but to be recognized as a brand-new mammalian family. Before we go talk to Bruce, here are a few reasons why naked mole rats stand apart from any other mammal. Naked mole rats are social mammals in the truest sense of the word. They live in c...
==========
You may be familiar with the naked mole rat, but did you know they are insect-like, cancer-immune, poop eating, cold-blooded aliens of the mammalian world? They're so extremely different from any other animal you'd think they'd stand pretty far apart from their mammalian relatives and you would be correct. Field Museum mammalogist Bruce Patterson, together with Yale post-doctoral researcher Nate Upham have determined these animals are so special, the deserve to not only be in their own species or genus, but to be recognized as a brand-new mammalian family. Before we go talk to Bruce, here are a few reasons why naked mole rats stand apart from any other mammal. Naked mole rats are social mammals in the truest sense of the word. They live in c...
