Naked Mole-rat

Class:  Mammalia

Order:  Rodentia

Family:  Bathyergidae

Naked mole-rats are about 3.5 inches long with tails that add no more than 2 inches to their body length.  Their average weight is 35 grams and have very few hairs on their body Â- hence the name naked mole rat.  Their loose, wrinkled skin is almost transparent and appears to be pinkish or yellowish in color and the few pale-colored hairs scattered along their torso and tail are used to sense air movement and vibrations in the soil.  The fringe of fine hairs along the edges of their feet helps collect and sweep back loose soil during the digging.

They spend their entire life underground and are present in most of the grassland areas of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.  Their colonies can number anywhere from 20-100 and their burrow systems can extend for 150 meters.  The tunnels have designated chambers, one of which is a sunroom and this chamber is closest to the surface where the temperature is higher.  The rats cannot retain heat so they conserve it by sleeping together in one chamber and can keep warmer in the sunroom chamber.

The queen is the only female that breeds once a year and can have a litter of 3 to 12 pups but may have as many as 25.  They are born blind and weigh about 2 g.    In the wild, they feed on roots and tubers and their predators are snakes.