Naked mole-rat

The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), also known as the sand puppy[3] or desert mole rat, is a burrowing rodent closely related to the blesmols, native to parts of East Africa, and is the only species currently classified in the genus Heterocephalus.[4] The genus is classified as being in the family Bathyergidae or in its own family, Heterocephalidae. The naked mole-rat, the Damaraland mole-rat,[5] and Mechow's mole-rat[citation needed] are eusocial mammals, the highest classification of sociality. It has a highly unusual set of physical traits that enable it to thrive in an otherwise harsh underground environment; it is the only mammalian thermoconformer, almost entirely ectothermic (cold-blooded) in how it regulates body temperature.[6]
The mole rat lacks pain sensitivity in its skin, and has very low metabolic and respiratory rates. While formerly considered to belong to the same family as other African mole-rats, the Bathyergidae, more recent investigation places the naked mole-rat in a separate family, Heterocephalidae.[7][8][9] The mole rat is also remarkable for its longevity and its resistance to cancer and oxygen deprivation.
Category:Animals
Category:Creatures