The Wonderfully Weird Naked Mole Rat | The Naked Mole Rat | Real Wild

The African savannah, home of the largest land animals on earth, where this young woman follows the footprints of a small zoological enigma. The burning sands of East Africa. Here lives a mysterious mammal the size of a mouse that breaks all the rules of its genus by its appearance has been called a sand pup an adult embryo a walking finger in fact it looks like that because it is perfectly adapted to its habitat the almost hairless

naked

mole

rat shaped like a sausage with loose, wrinkled skin and large teeth for digging rats

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and neither moles nor rats, their closest relatives are guinea pigs, although they are not supposed to live underground in long systems of tunnels, their homes are a chamber the size of a football called a nest, ruled by a queen which is bigger than all the others yes

naked

mole rats are mammals that behave like insects what more small ears and tiny eyes so no one can kick sand into them the long whiskers help them navigate and direct their most important tool those teeth and almost all of them are descendants of a single queen and just like in an insect colony each one has their role worker waitress or soldier but we are researching too much much of this was unknown just five years ago Rosie Cox a biology student was looking television at his home in Germany when he came across something ugly he had never seen before and beautiful at the same time, the naked mole rats tugged at his heartstrings.

She had never seen anything like a naked mouth before and I thought it must be a joke because something like that seemed very strange, so I started running out and trying it. and I discovered everything I could about them at first his research yielded very little a drawing here a couple of sentences there the mole rats were footnotes to nature no one found them worthy of study until he found a book written by Edward Ripple in 1842 he drew the hair-covered mole rats convinced he had caught a baby he gave them their Latin name heterocephalus globa the strange bald heads rosie was hooked dresden zoo scene of rosie's first encounter with something

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it is one of the few zoos that worries about a creature that seems to have escaped from a comic book and here they are, an entire colony squeezed into a few meters of perspex and plywood tunnels, even the adults look exactly like embryos, they have no problem adapting to the environment they cannot go out. but they multiply, they don't need much, just a constant temperature and a regular supply of their favorite vegetables, but Rosie wanted to visit them at home, so she applied to the naked mole rat field studies program at the university of washington in saint louis, usa, the only people studying mole rats in the

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today she knew that the artificial environment of plastic pipes would tell her nothing here there was no greater danger than the squeals of delighted children and an occasional smack in the pipes and in the zoo they were even protected from that with non-stop music from a transistor radio, how different from their home life in Africa, in East Africa, they are supporting actors to the stars on the surface, they are quite particular where they go, although they only live in the savannahs of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. places where it is dry hot and the ground is hard and they have no competitors and only come up for air at the end of the short rainy season, when the ground is softer, a single colony of mole rats is as big as a football field with up to three kilometers of tunnels they dig they dig they dig for edible roots it's sometimes hard to see who's giving the orders anarchy in the mole rat monarchy zoologists once believed that a colony lived in genetic isolation for generations just like insects , but that would be unheard of in mammals.

For five years, Rosie traveled the world between Saint Louis and Kenya collecting and comparing data on different colonies. She eventually

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ized that marked mole rats from one colony sometimes appeared in another. On this fifth trip, she wants to test her theory that mole rats abandon their colonies and this is unexpected. Communication between colonies keeps them all healthy and whether you are a human or a mole rat, you have to prepare your trip. It can be a difficult environment out there. There's really no way to buy it. It's not like going on vacation where normally I can say okay, if I forget something I just buy it, but out there there's nothing to buy and you have to have all your medications and all that stuff with you, if you don't you're screwed.

Seven hours from Nairobi is Meru National Park. On this fifth annual trip, Rosie makes it a priority to solve the mystery of the traveling mole rats. Do some mole rats actually exchange colonies to expand the gene pool? The park is in the heart of the Kenyan savanna. It is a landscape made up of ancient volcanoes and. dominated by large and small craters these fist sized craters are the unmistakable sign of an active colony of mole rats just after the rainy season they are at their most active digging tunnels to obtain new food supplies they work in long chains a mole rat kicking the dirt back to the next until they reach the exit they can work like this for hours and hours they are targeting sweet potatoes which are the favorite food of this underground army that is why farmers like rose carimba hate naked mole rats and they spend a good amount of It's time to keep them at bay, but it's not easy.

She can only attack if she knows where they are. Knives are useless. The queen simply gives the signal to retreat and is instantly obeyed. She is in charge of every detail of the colony's life. First and foremost, while maintaining her own position, she will intimidate or attack any other female who attempts to mate. She can reign for over 20 years, an incredible age for a rodent, and in that time she can have a thousand offspring. In two months, the pups are working cleaning and storing food, learning new tasks, and learning to recognize danger and transmit information through their whistles, so Rosie and her surface-working assistant are searching for active mole-rat volcanoes. , they need patience and sharp eyes, the search can take hours because in a year, a colony can fight its way to a new position, to the fury of farmers like Rose Caimba.

Mole rats are extremely hardy creatures; In fact, as Rosie has learned, they seem to experience less pain than other rodents, another of the genetic enigmas that fascinates mole rat scientists. When a mole rat bursts into another colony's tunnel in its search for food, it's time for it. The soldiers move. The intruder is betrayed by his scent. There are now two possible outcomes: He will be dragged away and enslaved or He will be expelled. The sharp teeth will do their job. This is sent off by the defender. It could have been worse. Sometimes intruders die. This defeated a tactical retreat.

Rosie has arrived at her first stop. She is one of her former colonies number 2c. She gets to work. Immediately, quickly and quietly so as not to alarm the mole rats, she scrapes the mouths of the tunnels leaving room for juicy pieces of sweet potato. Tomorrow she will set the traps and keep an eye out for the buffalo, so the next morning Rosie tries her homemade food. last trap plastic tubes with a door activated by a light sensor that slam shut when a mole rat enters to eat the potato, sprinkle sand at the bottom of the tube to perfect the illusion by going to the traps in all exits of the tunnel it has.

You have to do it quickly before the mole rats get suspicious and quietly so they don't get nervous the traps are set and now for the hardest part of the job the long wait whose nerves will be broken first the naked lawnmowers can hear very well so that They can hear When we talk or do something, they can also feel the vibrations of our walking or putting something on the ground and in order not to disturb them we have to be far away so that they enter our traps on Rose Kymber's small property, the conflict is Usually , the water drains away before the mole rats drown and they can still swim when the going gets tough by helping themselves out of the mud.

Okay, it's not pretty, but this is no way to get rid of mole rats. The experts are still waiting. rats spend a lot of time resting they can spend hours before making a move it is still worrying rosie these mole rats show no inclination to leave the colony, but some must the mole rats are resting they huddle around the queen sharing warmth in this season more cold mole rats are the only mammals that cannot regulate their own body temperature and most of the year they do not need to be one meter underground the temperature remains constant at 30 degrees Celsius they cope with small changes in temperature by moving to a chamber different, but Rosie knows that the irresistible sweet potato aroma will eventually make them careless.

Curiosity and hunger defeat a mole rat. He walks into the trap. The first mole rat in the trap is new to Rosie. She is not surprised that other animals remember. the traps and the younger ones will learn quickly we have to get the moorhead out of the trap very quickly so that it does not guarantee the other moments that there is a trap job and rosie gently lifts them by the tail at first they get one a minute the spaces are made longer and longer the average colony has around 80 animals but there can be up to 300 outside the tunnel mole rats are kept in buckets and protected from the sun mole rats huddle together some grind their teeth perhaps a sign of stress things are ruined in the plot of rosa gasoline the ultimate weapon the exact stench seeps into the tunnel system the mole rats don't like it and retreat only to build new passages and new mini volcanoes nearby it's a limited success for rosa at least they're temporarily out from its land, Rosie, and the work has trapped almost the entire colony as the last ones emerge, there are more and more surprises: this scorpion is not a permanent inhabitant, even poisonous insects only dare to enter the colony once once the soldier mole rats have come out the next eruption is human the rangers are building a path for the tourists on the safari rosie is now waiting for the queen to emerge but for the rangers this is a strange activity for a white woman it doesn't seem right all good a cautious approach as most kenyans have never seen naked mole rats the drivers are interested in the creatures digging techniques how they manage to move so much earth without a bulldozer rosie shows the men the powerful hind legs of the rats The mole men have their doubts.

A quick glance at the cube convinces them. The guards continue driving, not realizing that there is another transportation industry active underground. These beetles are the only tenants that the mole rats are willing to share with anything else. o bitten rosie has discovered that they live in each colony mole rats live in the chambers and the mole rats transport them along the tunnel system, especially to the bathroom chambers, the beetles consume the waste of the mole rats a perfect cooperation rosie has to capture several colonies simultaneously to obtain comparable data up to a dozen each dry season the space of a few square miles is more than a thousand animals and sometimes the mole rats make it more difficult by going for a walk in the scorching sun in this heat They won't last even minutes.

Rosie has to make sure she is protected from the sun too. And she has to pay attention to all the animals around her, especially elephants, they are always treated with respect. A few years ago an elephant was a rare sight, but thanks to the ban on ivory hunting they are back in force for tourists, a lone researcher in the bush is almost as interesting as a big cat to Rosie they are an unwanted interruption big feet walking through all their mole rat colonies once again rosie explains their behavior and habitat but the kenyan guide is not convinced I don't know for uh I've never actually seen them but I have seen them right now and from what I understand , they are nice animals even though I don't know if they ruin a visit, visitors or whatever, I don't know, maybe they are. on the guide's itinerary next year, but now it's time for Rosie and Job to catch the queen.

The queen will be the last to leave the colony. She usually needs a little persuasion. Now, she fully awake, she looks for her subjects in the tunnels only when she is convinced not to. to the left she will go that can take two days sometimes the queen never emerges but there is no doubt when she appears the queen she is clearly longer than her subjects she actually develops extra vertebrae no one knows how to have room for more young ones for work that's all in a day's work and the work itself is valuable here they are interested because I am doing with them and I am working with them they are good animals and because I am earning something from them side by side the differences are obvious long back and enlarged nipples and with the queen away the study can begin she is much longer returns to the field laboratory for workroutine data recording rosie measures the length of each mole rat between five and nine centimeters depending on their role in the colony then weighs them on average 30 grams she will then compare this information with the institute's data banks departures arrivals age rosi takes a sample of urine from each animal for hormone testing in the future you will be able to look back and see which animal was developed to accomplish which task the soldier queen or the elusive runner and their special knowledge may be useful to local farmers because mole rats actually they don't kill their crops they make holes there and I find your machine and then they put soil back in because the tuber is still alive because they filled it with soil they can eat a little more after a long time but that only makes things worse for the rose the rats mole ruin her sweet potatoes and never go away despite all her efforts, Rosie promises Rose that she will try to catch and relocate the colony later.

I think we should take our traps and catch some of them, but the more rats the more dangerous they are. enemies than farmers a sand board has discovered one of the colonies comes out of the volcanoes and feels the activity within it feels like an invitation to have lunch but the mole rats have other ideas the strongest soldiers are sent into action while the workers flee to distant chambers the soldiers carry their teeth and wait for an exposed flank if that doesn't work the soldiers retreat and the mole rats rush to block the tunnel with pieces of earth is enough to send it above the ground Rosie and work changing a tire punctured by an acacia thorn is another skill that an investigator must have in the mountains and today they have an appointment that Rosie does not want to miss a farmer has information which may help her decipher the secret of the traveling mole rats this is the legend of fuku the naked white mole rants according to According to this swahili legend, a mole rat found above the ground at night is especially lucky.

It means that the mole rats are abandoning the fields, so it is a guarantee of a good harvest. It's Rosie's first anecdotal evidence that mole rats leave colonies to travel. Her frustration is that she can still only imagine the life of mole rats underground, so she has decided to create a world of miniature mole rats as authentic as possible. Will the traveling mole rats be identified by their behavior within the Rosie colony and get to work using local materials first excavate a termite hill. They are held together thanks to termite saliva, which contains a soluble glue, ideal for building with crumbled earth.

It is softened with water to make a kind of clay. Africans use it to build houses, but generally not for naked mole rats. to make crazy bricks they are building a film set cardboard boxes hold the compressed earth together toilet paper rolls serve as molds for the tunnels now you have to let it dry then you can remove the cardboard molds and begin the important finishing of the set The work decorate the tunnels with roots and tubers, a mole rat's dream and something to encourage them to act, but if the stars cooperate, they need time to get used to their surroundings, but things still don't go as planned, so , Rosie. record their little charges also naked mole rats have to have 18 different calls each with its own meaning an extraordinary number for a rodent and even stranger they sound exactly like a bird's song naked mole rats have very good hearing their sense of touch is sharp as Well, whisker-like sensors on their tail legs and head help them find their way in dark tunnels and their nakedness protects them from parasites that, like a furry coca, colonize Rosie . unit in St.

Louis as they look together, trying to spot potential travelers or runners. Are they heavier? More restless than the others. Rosie has suspicions about her, but the movies are inconclusive, so Rosie and the professor agree that she will have to catch a runner in the act. She can't do that in the lab or even in her prefabricated colony in Kenya she has to be observed in the

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. Stan is worried that what they see in the movies is not the natural behavior of mole rats. Scientists have learned how animals behave in captivity. different from animals in their natural habitat and that seems to be particularly true in the case of the naked mole rats that we find in zoos and in laboratories, if you add a little difficulty to their life, all other behaviors change in zoos They call it enrichment. so if you mess with their minds, if you change the tunnels, if you block the tunnels, if you do things to frustrate them, that doesn't just change the behavior of getting rid of the blockage, it changes all kinds of behavior, there is one last experiment in saint louis rosie analyzes urine analyzes to check the hormonal levels of an entire colony and discovers that the mole rats with the highest hormonal levels are fatter and heavier than the others, these are the mole rats that travel to replenish the gene banks of a colony. distant colony is now ready to test its theory in Meru National Park, but how can you tell if those bigger, fatter mole rats actually travel and gain acceptance in a foreign colony?

The experiment she and Stan Broder have devised is a great example of lateral thinking. She needs to know if owls hunt mole rats and for that she needs toy mole rats. I can show you that this gray back that they have is actually used for camouflage, which you only need if you are on the surface, which is another proof that they are actually dispersing above the ground, but first you have to give them to the captured colonies their usual food. They are kept warm and comfortable in communal boxes. They are covered by a sheet to protect them from snakes when night falls.

Rosie marks the places where she goes out. the plastic mole rats some are standing on all fours with their backs camouflaged in the air others are on their side or upside down revealing a pink belly they should be more visible to owls she will have the answers in the morning everything suggests her The theory about The traveling mole rats is correct, the measurements, the hormone levels, the legends, but will there be proof if the Romeo mole rat really exists? So will the moment of truth. Some of the mole rats on their sides and upside down have been attacked, that means. that owls recognize them and consider them food, but most mole rats on all fours are untouched, suggesting that the gray backs actually function as camouflage and the mole rats move on the ground.

Now he has to catch a runner red-handed, but that's something he can't do in totally wild conditions. Maybe a fence placed on the road between two colonies will help. At nightfall, a mole rat sets off that wouldn't last. not a minute in the sun and even at night he wastes no time he must continue until he enters another colony's mini volcano, but tonight there is something about the way the smell of fiberglass unsettles the mole rat. It worked. It's taken a long time, but Rosie has finally discovered one of the secrets of moleratas, how they are kept. increase the strength of their colonies, we still don't know what makes travelers leave the colonies in the first place or how they overcome the defenses of the new colony to be accepted by the queen, but it seems that these wandering rats and the fresh genes they bring have Much to do with the species' legendary resilience, long lives, and tolerance for pain, each of the ten thousand marked mole rats has contributed a piece to this particular puzzle, but now the mole rats and Rosie need to go away. home.

For Rosie at least the work is not over. I have helped reveal some secrets about Enakimo's life, but as it stands in the investigation, if you reveal things and open and answer questions, then you open more questions and some more will be needed. years to discover everything about the necromoris the last task is to return all the mole rats to their colonies the study will continue for many years yet, but the already naked mole rats are among the best understood rodents in the world delivered to the entrances of their familiar tunnels . smell the smell of home and hardly hesitate before entering for the moment they take their secrets with them even after 160 years these mammals that sound like birds and behave like insects have managed to keep many secrets for you.