A Curious Collection of Peculiar Creatures

These remarkable rats don’t have a coat of soft fur, just a few whiskers here and there. You’d think they’d get cold being naked all the time, but they stay warm in their underground homes by huddling next to other mole rats. They also don’t feel pain the same way we do, and wouldn’t be bothered if they were dipped into a bowl of acid or hot sauce. (Ouch!)

That’s not all—they live in burrows that they dig with their teeth, which are on the outside of their mouths. This allows them to dig without swallowing dirt. They’re also able to move these teeth independently of each other, like a pair of chopsticks! They have very loose skin that helps them pass each other easily in narrow underground tunnels without getting stuck.

Finally, they’re the only mammal that lives in a colony with one queen and many workers, like ants do. Worker rats average up to 3 inches (7.5 cm) long and weigh around 1 ounce (30 g). The queen rat runs the colony and gives birth to new young, and she can weigh as much as 2.5 ounces (70 g).

These wrinkly rats build their burrows in areas of eastern Africa like central Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Djibouti, but you’ll never see them outside of a zoo—unless you happen to live underground too! They live in intricate networks of tunnels that can be found 6.5 feet (2 m) below the surface of the earth and reach up to 2.5 miles (4 km) long.

Naked mole rats live their lives almost entirely underground and very rarely visit the surface. This means they eat food that’s found under the earth, such as roots, stems, and plant bulbs (otherwise known as tubers). These treats are collected by the worker rats and brought back to the colony for the other rats and the queen to feast on.

The naked mole rat lives across a relatively wide area, and their numbers seem to be growing. Their underground habitat is essentially untouched. But since they eat root vegetables, farmers will treat them as pests if there are too many of them around, taking off with all the beets and turnips!

Fun Facts

Naked mole rats can survive without air for up to 18 minutes.
They can run backward just as fast as they can run forward!
They’ve been documented to live to 30 years old in captivity. In fact, this species lives longer than any other rodent.
They don’t need to drink as their tuber-based diet keeps them well hydrated.
To absorb as many nutrients as possible from a single meal, the rats will often eat each other’s poo!