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“Naked mole-rats are among the only mammals that live in true eusocial colonies, similar to bees and ants.”
Naked mole-rats are nearly hairless East African rodents that dig vast underground colonies. They eat roots and tubers and live in eusocial groups led by a breeding queen.
Heterocephalus glaberRodentiaBathyergidae
Browse naked mole-rat photographs—from East African burrow systems and colony huddles to digging teeth and newborn pups.
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Core article
A closer look at habitat, diet, behavior, reproduction, and conservation.
The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) looks unlike almost any other mammal: wrinkled pink skin, whisker-like sparse hairs, huge forward teeth, and a life spent almost entirely underground. Under the dry savanna soils of East Africa, colonies dig miles of sealed tunnels that stay cooler and safer than the blazing surface. Inside those tunnels they practice a rare mammalian lifestyle called eusociality — a breeding queen, a few breeding males, and dozens of workers and soldiers that dig, forage, defend, and raise pups together. Despite their common name, they are rodents, not true moles, and they belong to a different genus from many other African mole-rats.
Naked mole-rats are mammals in order Rodentia and family Bathyergidae, the African mole-rats. Genus Heterocephalus contains this single living species. Their closest everyday comparisons on WildlifeDB are not other rodents alone but other specialists in digging and social living: armadillos for armored underground foraging, and meerkats for cooperative defense — though meerkats are mongooses, not rodents.
Evolutionary biologists study naked mole-rats because eusocial colonies usually evolve in insects such as honeybees and leafcutter ants. Finding a mammal that organizes work, reproduction, and defense so strictly suggests that harsh, tunnel-bound habitats can push very different animals toward similar social solutions. Fossil and genetic evidence place them among African subterranean rodents adapted to arid soils where plant roots store the only reliable water for months at a time.
Adults measure roughly 3 to 4 inches (7–10 cm) long and usually weigh 1 to 2.5 ounces (30–70 g), about mouse size. Skin is nearly naked except for sensory hairs, which helps the body slip through tight tunnels and transfer heat when colony members pile together. Eyes are tiny, because vision barely matters underground, while hearing and touch guide travel through darkness.
The front teeth are famous: long, ever-growing incisors that remain outside the lips even when the mouth is closed. That design lets a mole-rat bite soil and plant roots without filling its mouth with dirt. Powerful jaw muscles and short, sturdy limbs support a life of digging. Unlike most mammals, naked mole-rats do not hold a steady high body temperature; they are largely poikilothermic and rely on huddling and warm nest chambers. They also tolerate low oxygen and high carbon dioxide — useful traits in sealed colony tunnels.
Naked mole-rats live under arid and semi-arid landscapes of the Horn of Africa, especially Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and nearby dry districts. Above ground the scenery is sparse scrub and hard-packed savanna. Below ground it is a city of tunnels, toilet chambers, food stores, and a deep nest where the queen and pups rest.
Mounds of excavated soil may be the only surface clue that a colony is active. Tunnel temperatures stay more stable than open air, which protects animals that cannot sweat or shiver as efficiently as typical mammals. Because their entire niche is subterranean, surface crops and roads threaten colonies mainly by crushing soils or removing the root crops the animals harvest from below.
Naked mole-rats are primarily herbivores. Workers chew into large underground roots, tubers, and bulbs, then leave edible plant tissue partly intact so the plant can keep growing and providing future harvests. Food pieces travel along tunnels back toward storage and nest areas. Because plant juices supply most of the water budget, colonies can survive long dry seasons without visiting surface water.
They rarely eat animals in nature. Occasional invertebrates may be taken, but roots and tubers define the diet. Strong teeth keep pace with abrasive soil and fibrous plant tissue, wearing and regrowing throughout life.
A naked mole-rat colony can include dozens or even more than a hundred individuals sharing one continuous burrow system. Only the queen and one to a few males usually reproduce. Non-breeding adults dig new tunnels, patrol for snakes, haul soil, and care for pups — a division of labor that makes them true social animals. When a predator enters, soldier-sized individuals may plug tunnels or attack with teeth.
Communication mixes soft vocalizations with chemical cues. Bodies press close in nest chambers to conserve heat. Compared with solitary diggers, colony life means constant traffic, shared risk, and shared rewards when a big tuber is found. The system resembles insect castes more than typical rodent family groups.
Queens can remain the sole breeding female for years. Gestation lasts about 70 days, after which she may produce litters of several pink, helpless pups. Colony helpers warm, groom, and protect the young while the queen prepares for later litters. As young grow, they join digging and foraging crews instead of leaving to start lone territories.
Lifespan is extraordinary for a rodent of this size. Many individuals live more than 15 years, and research colonies have documented some beyond 30—far longer than mice of similar size. Scientists study their slow aging, cellular repair, and low incidence of cancer in laboratory colonies, although no single trait fully explains their longevity.
(Population and conservation trend data sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species)
The naked mole-rat is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, and its overall population trend is considered stable across a large arid range that is difficult to convert into dense farmland.
Even so, local colonies can be lost when soils are heavily disturbed, flooded by irrigation projects, or poisoned as agricultural pests. Climate swings that kill the underground food plants can also shrink colony success. Because so much of their biology is unique, protected populations remain valuable both for wild ecosystems and for research that compares mammalian and insect-style social living.
Naked mole-rats are among the only mammals that live in true eusocial colonies, similar to bees and ants.
Their large front teeth grow continuously and stay outside closed lips, so they can dig without swallowing dirt.
They do not keep a steady high body temperature; colonies huddle to share warmth.
Tunnel systems can stretch for city-block distances under dry East African savanna soils.
Queens can live for decades and produce many litters while workers never breed.
They tolerate very low oxygen levels that would quickly harm most other mammals.
Select a question to reveal the answer.
A naked mole-rat is a nearly hairless burrowing rodent from East Africa. It lives in underground colonies with a breeding queen, workers, and soldiers.
They live under arid savanna and scrub soils in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and nearby parts of the Horn of Africa.
They are mainly herbivores. Colonies chew underground roots, tubers, and bulbs and get much of their water from plant tissues.
Almost-naked skin helps them squeeze through tight tunnels and share heat by huddling. Sparse whisker-like hairs still help them feel tunnel walls.
Like social animals such as meerkats or bees, only a queen and a few males breed. Other adults dig tunnels, find food, defend the nest, and raise pups.
Yes, but they belong to their own genus, *Heterocephalus*. They should not be confused with European moles or other African mole-rat species.
They are unusually long-lived for small rodents. Many live more than 15 years, and some research animals have lived past 30.
Naked mole-rats are listed as Least Concern. Their harsh underground habitat is hard for people to farm heavily, which helps keep colonies widespread.
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