The Underground Queen: How Naked Mole-Rats Establish and Maintain Their Social Order
In a narrow underground tunnel, a naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) forcefully shoves an approaching colony mate, driving it backward, sometimes for nearly a meter. This assertive display of dominance is most commonly performed by the colony's highest-ranking female. She is the queen, the individual who holds a reproductive monopoly within the naked mole-rat society.
Naked mole-rats are subterranean rodents (Rodentia) native to the arid regions of East Africa. Their colonies often consist of several dozen individuals, although captive colonies can contain as many as 300 animals. Despite the presence of numerous adult males and females, reproduction is generally restricted to a single breeding female, who mates with one to three breeding males. The remaining colony members remain reproductively suppressed and cooperate in excavating tunnels, transporting food, maintaining the nest, and caring for pups.
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