{"id":8079,"date":"2023-05-09T08:22:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T06:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/?post_type=animal&#038;p=8079"},"modified":"2026-08-10T17:24:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:24:54","slug":"naked-mole-rat","status":"publish","type":"animal","link":"https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/en\/animals\/naked-mole-rat\/","title":{"rendered":"Naked Mole-rat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Taxonomy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Phylum:&nbsp;Chordata \u2013 Chordates&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Class:&nbsp;Mammalia \u2013 Mammals&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Order:&nbsp;Rodentia \u2013 Rodents&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Family:&nbsp;Heterocephalidae&nbsp;\u2013 Mole-rats&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Species:&nbsp;Naked mole-rat&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;<em>Heterocephalus&nbsp;glaber<\/em>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conservation<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"zoo-animal-details\">\n        <div class=\"born-container is-default\">\n            <div class=\"inner\">\n\n                \n                    <div class=\"item\">\n                        <div class=\"icon\">\n                            <img srcset=\"https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/iucn-lc-e1695033593303.png 2x\" alt=\"\">\n                        <\/div>\n                        <div class=\"text\">\n                            IUCN Red List: Least Concern                        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n\n                    \n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Distribution&nbsp;and habitat<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naked mole-rats&nbsp;are found in eastern Africa&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Ethiopia,&nbsp;Somalia&nbsp;and Kenya. They live underground&nbsp;in&nbsp;savannah and grasslands, forming tunnel systems at a depth of two meters. Tunnel systems can be up to 3 km long and have&nbsp;chambers&nbsp;for&nbsp;different functions&nbsp;like nursery,&nbsp;bathroom&nbsp;and food storage.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17903\" style=\"width:600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka-350x175.jpg 350w, https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka-600x300.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka-580x290.jpg 580w, https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka-1160x580.jpg 1160w, https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/izplatiba-kaila-kurmjzurka.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Adaptions<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naked mole-rats&nbsp;are small rodents. They are on average 10 cm long and weigh around&nbsp;40 g.&nbsp;Breeding females&nbsp;are larger and heavier.&nbsp;Naked mole-rats&nbsp;are naked&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;their skin is pink with&nbsp;tiny, sensitive&nbsp;hairs. They have&nbsp;very small, poorly developed eyes that are covered with thick eyelids&nbsp;that protect eyes while digging underground.&nbsp;They&nbsp;primarily&nbsp;use touch and scent while living in the underground.&nbsp;Like typical rodents&nbsp;they&nbsp;have two&nbsp;long incisors, which are used for tunnel digging and&nbsp;eating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Diet<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naked mole-rats are&nbsp;herbivorous.&nbsp;They feed on plant roots&nbsp;and tubers.&nbsp;Mole-rats&nbsp;store food in special tunnel chambers&nbsp;for later&nbsp;use when&nbsp;fresh&nbsp;food is not available.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Breeding<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naked mole-rats&nbsp;have a special social hierarchy&nbsp;that resembles bees. They live in organized families with one&nbsp;queen (breeding female)&nbsp;and&nbsp;her&nbsp;subjected generations. The&nbsp;queen chooses a couple of oldest&nbsp;and strongest males to&nbsp;breed with, while the rest of&nbsp;the mole-rats&nbsp;are &#8220;workers&#8221;. Other females&nbsp;in the colony&nbsp;become sterile. Each worker has their own task&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;looking for food,&nbsp;dig tunnels, protect&nbsp;the tunnels&nbsp;or care for babies. One colony can reach 100 individuals and have their own unique smell of recognition. The&nbsp;queen gives birth to 11-12 babies once a year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conservation and threats<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The naked\u00a0mole-rat\u00a0is not endangered in the wild, but potential threats\u00a0are expansion of agricultural lands. The wild colonies of the\u00a0mole-rats\u00a0are located in\u00a0protected areas and have also successfully managed captive\u00a0colonies in zoos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2960,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","inline_featured_image":false},"animal-category":[38,36],"animal-filter-1":[],"animal-filter-2":[],"class_list":["post-8079","animal","type-animal","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Naked Mole-rat - Zoo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rigazoo.lv\/en\/animals\/naked-mole-rat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Naked Mole-rat - Zoo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Taxonomy Conservation&nbsp; Distribution&nbsp;and habitat&nbsp; Naked mole-rats&nbsp;are found in eastern Africa&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;Ethiopia,&nbsp;Somalia&nbsp;and Kenya. They live underground&nbsp;in&nbsp;savannah and grasslands, forming tunnel systems at a depth of two meters. Tunnel systems can be up to 3 km long and have&nbsp;chambers&nbsp;for&nbsp;different functions&nbsp;like nursery,&nbsp;bathroom&nbsp;and food storage. Adaptions&nbsp; Naked mole-rats&nbsp;are small rodents. 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