Animal
Naked mole-rat
The naked mole-rat is a small, pink, wrinkly rodent with big front teeth. It lives in tunnels under the ground in Africa with its big family.
Naked mole-rats are almost hairless rodents that spend their whole lives in tunnels under the dry lands of eastern Africa. They live in big colonies where only one female, the queen, has babies, and they can live for around 30 years.
Heterocephalus glaber is a subterranean, eusocial rodent of the Horn of Africa. Colonies of about 70 to 80 animals have one breeding queen and non-breeding workers; the species barely regulates its own body temperature, digs with its incisors, and, with a lifespan of up to about 30 years in captivity, is important in research.
Photo: Roman Klementschitz, Wien, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the naked mole-rat
The naked mole-rat is a small rodent with pink, wrinkly skin.
It has almost no fur, tiny eyes and four big front teeth. It lives under the ground all its life.
The naked mole-rat is a rodent about 7.5 centimeters long that weighs about 28 to 42 grams. Its wrinkly skin is pink or grayish pink, and it has almost no fur.
It is not completely bald, though. It has sensitive whiskers on its face and tail, and hairs between its toes. It has no outer ears, its eyes are tiny, and its four large front teeth stick out in front of its lips.
Heterocephalus glaber is a small subterranean rodent, usually about 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) long and 28 to 42 grams, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo; soldiers can reach 57 grams and the queen, the largest member of a colony, about 71 grams. The skin is wrinkled, pink or grayish pink, partly translucent below and purplish brown above, a countershading that fades with age.
The animal is not entirely hairless: sensory whiskers grow on the face and tail, and fringes of hair between the toes let the feet work as brooms. There are no external ears and the eyes are tiny, leaving it virtually blind. The short, broad head carries powerful jaw muscles and very large incisors.
Quick facts
- Group
- Mammal
- Length
- 0.08 m
- Weight
- 0.03 to 0.04 kg
- Lifespan in the wild
- 10 to 30 years
Tunnels under dry lands
Naked mole-rats live in Africa.
They live in hot, dry places with little rain. They dig long tunnels deep under the ground, and they stay there all their lives.
Naked mole-rats live in eastern Africa, in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. Their home is hot and dry, with little rain, and they live in hard, packed soil under grassy, semi-desert land.
They never travel above ground. A colony digs a maze of tunnels about 4 centimeters wide, some just under the surface and some up to 2 meters deep. All together, one colony's tunnels can stretch up to 4 kilometers, linking nest rooms, toilet areas and food.
The IUCN describes a range across most of Somalia, central Ethiopia and much of northern and eastern Kenya, south to the eastern edge of Tsavo West National Park and the town of Voi, with records from Djibouti suggesting a wider range than is known. Animals live at 400 to 1,500 meters in arid country with high temperatures and low, irregular rainfall averaging 200 to 400 millimeters a year, most often in hard, consolidated lateritic loams but also in fine sand and gypsum.
The National Zoo describes tunnels about 4 centimeters across, from just below the surface to 2 meters deep, branching and interconnecting to a total of up to 4 kilometers per colony, with nest chambers, toilet areas and food sources. Because the animals never travel above ground, burrowing is their only way to find food.
Continent
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Hot, dry grassland and scrub of the Horn of Africa: most of Somalia, central Ethiopia, northern and eastern Kenya (south to Tsavo West and Voi), with records from Djibouti. Always underground.
Places: Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in Kenya, United States, Somalia, Ethiopia, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Cyprus and 2 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Root and tuber eaters
Naked mole-rats eat the parts of plants that grow under the ground.
They like big, juicy roots. They never need to drink water.
Naked mole-rats eat the underground parts of plants, especially tubers: swollen, juicy roots that store water and food. Their food gives them all the water they need, so they never drink.
When a colony finds a big tuber, sometimes more than 30 centimeters across, the mole-rats eat the inside but often leave the thin outer skin. That may let the plant stay alive and keep growing, so the colony can come back to it again and again.
The diet is the underground parts of plants, particularly the succulent tubers of many arid-zone species, and supplies all the animals' water (National Zoo). On finding a large tuber, sometimes over 30 centimeters across, workers bore into it and eat mainly the interior while leaving the thin epidermis, behavior that may keep the plant alive as a long-term food store.
The diet is high in cellulose, which is hard to digest, so naked mole-rats rely on dense gut microbes and regularly practice coprophagy, re-eating feces to extract more nutrients; pups are inoculated with gut microbes this way. The IUCN notes they also eat crops such as cassava and sweet potato.
Teeth that dig and feel
A naked mole-rat digs with its big front teeth!
Its lips close behind its teeth, so it does not get a mouthful of dirt. It feels its way with its whiskers.
Naked mole-rats dig with their four big front teeth, which never stop growing. Their lips close behind the teeth, so they can dig without getting dirt in their mouths. About a quarter of their muscle is used for closing their jaws.
Because they are almost blind, they find their way by smell and by feeling vibrations in the ground and movements of the air. Unlike most mammals, they cannot keep their body temperature steady, so they huddle together and warm up in tunnels near the sunny surface.
Workers excavate hard soil with ever-growing incisors; about a quarter of an individual's muscle mass is involved in closing the jaw, and the lips seal behind the incisors so the animal can dig without taking in soil (National Zoo). The somatosensory cortex is unusually large, and nearly a third of it is devoted to the four incisors, suggesting the teeth are also used to sense the surroundings.
Naked mole-rats are virtually blind and rely on smell and on sensitivity to ground vibrations and air currents. Unlike most mammals they cannot maintain a steady body temperature, which tracks the surroundings; they slow heat loss by huddling and thermoregulate behaviorally by basking in sun-warmed shallow tunnels.
The queen's big litters
In a naked mole-rat family, only the queen has babies.
She can have lots of babies at once. The other mole-rats help feed and look after them. Naked mole-rats can live for a very long time.
Only one female in a colony, the queen, has babies. After about 70 days, she gives birth to a litter that averages about 12 pups, each weighing less than 2 grams. She can have a new litter about every 80 days, up to five a year.
The queen nurses the pups for about a month, though they can start eating solid food at 2 weeks. By 3 to 4 weeks old they are already helping to dig and sweep. Naked mole-rats can live for 10 to 30 years.
Gestation is 66 to 74 days (IUCN), or about 70 days according to the National Zoo. The National Zoo gives an average litter of about 12 and a maximum of about 30, the largest known litter of any mammal; the IUCN gives 1 to 28. Pups weigh under 2 grams (National Zoo). Litters can follow every 76 to 84 days, and wild queens regularly bear more than 50 pups a year in four or five litters.
Pups nurse for about a month but may take solids from 2 weeks, and begin digging, sweeping and carrying at 3 to 4 weeks. Most are capable of breeding by about one year but stay non-breeding workers while in the colony. The lifespan of 10 to 30 years is unprecedented among small rodents; the IUCN records captive females living to 23 years and males to 28.
A colony that works together
Naked mole-rats live in a big family called a colony.
Everyone has a job. Some dig, some sweep the dirt away, and some guard the tunnels. They snuggle in a big pile to keep warm.
Naked mole-rats are eusocial: they live in big groups where only a few animals breed and most spend their lives working for the colony. A colony averages about 70 to 80 animals, but some have nearly 300.
Workers dig like a conveyor belt. The front mole-rats chew through the soil, a line of others sweeps it back through the tunnel, and one at the end kicks it out of a hole, making a molehill. Most digging happens after the rainy season, when the ground is softer.
The species is one of very few eusocial mammals. Colonies average 75 to 80 animals (IUCN; the National Zoo gives about 70) and can reach about 290 to 295. They are extended families with overlapping generations: one breeding female and at most three breeding males, usually one or two, while non-breeders, kept from breeding by the dominant female's aggressive behavior, care for the young and maintain and defend the burrows (IUCN).
Colony members are very closely related; dispersal is rare and inbreeding common. Digging is done assembly-line style, with leaders breaking through the soil, a chain of workers sweeping it back and a final worker kicking it out to form a molehill. Most of a year's digging follows the rainy season, when hard ground softens.
Did you know?
Naked mole-rats can live for about 30 years.
Some naked mole-rats in zoos have lived about 30 years, a very long time for a small rodent.
The National Zoo calls the naked mole-rat the longest-living rodent; animals in human care have reached about 30 years.
Safe, for now
There are many naked mole-rats, and they are not in danger.
Some live in national parks in Kenya. Zoos look after naked mole-rats too, and scientists learn a lot from them.
The IUCN lists the naked mole-rat as Least Concern. It is fairly common and lives across a wide area where there are few farms and towns. Some colonies live in national parks in Kenya, such as Tsavo, Meru and Samburu.
If farms spread into its range, farmers might see it as a pest, because it eats crops such as sweet potatoes and cassava. Many zoos keep naked mole-rats, and scientists study them to learn about their long lives and unusual bodies.
The IUCN assessed Heterocephalus glaber as Least Concern in 2016 (errata 2017), with a stable population: it is widespread, relatively common and faces no immediate major threats, though population monitoring of this eusocial species is recommended. Its range has little agriculture or development, but it eats cassava and sweet potato, so agricultural expansion could make it a pest.
Because colonies are patchy and genetically distinct, the IUCN notes that local subpopulations could be lost; the National Zoo adds that habitat fragmentation may threaten genetic health in future. The species occurs in Tsavo, Meru and Samburu National Parks in Kenya and is well established in zoos, and its unusual traits make it significant for research on many topics.
IUCN Red List
How is the naked mole-rat doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2
Amazing facts
-
A naked mole-rat's lips close behind its teeth.
Naked mole-rats can close their lips behind their big front teeth, so they can dig without getting dirt in their mouths.
The lips seal behind the incisors, so a digging mole-rat keeps soil out of its mouth (National Zoo).
-
Naked mole-rats can live for about 30 years.
Some naked mole-rats in zoos have lived about 30 years, a very long time for a small rodent.
The National Zoo calls the naked mole-rat the longest-living rodent; animals in human care have reached about 30 years.
-
A naked mole-rat queen can have as many as 30 babies at once.
A naked mole-rat litter averages about 12 pups, and can have about 30.
The maximum of about 30 pups is the largest known litter size of any mammal, according to the National Zoo.
-
Naked mole-rats never drink water.
Naked mole-rats get all their water from the juicy roots they eat, so they never drink.
Succulent tubers supply all the water a colony needs (National Zoo).
-
One colony's tunnels can be very, very long.
All the tunnels of one colony together can stretch up to 4 kilometers.
Branching, interconnected tunnels can total up to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) per colony (National Zoo).
Words to know
- eusocial
- living in a big group where only a few animals breed and the rest work for the group
- colony
- a large group of animals living together
- queen
- the only female in a naked mole-rat colony that has babies
- tuber
- a swollen underground part of a plant that stores food and water
- subterranean
- living under the ground
- incisors
- the sharp front teeth used for biting and gnawing
Discovery challenge
-
What does a naked mole-rat dig with?
Which body part does a naked mole-rat use to dig its tunnels?
Which structures do naked mole-rat workers use to excavate hard soil?
- Its tail
- Its big front teeth
- Its ears
Show the answer
Its big front teeth
It digs with its big front teeth!
Its four big front teeth. Its lips close behind them to keep dirt out.
Ever-growing incisors, powered by jaw muscles that make up about a quarter of the body's muscle mass.
-
Who has the babies in a naked mole-rat family?
How many females in a naked mole-rat colony have babies?
How is breeding organized in a naked mole-rat colony?
- Just one female, the queen
- Every female
- No one ever has babies
Show the answer
Just one female, the queen
Only the queen has babies. Everyone helps look after them.
Just one, the queen. The other mole-rats work for the colony and help raise her pups.
One breeding female and one to three breeding males; non-breeding workers care for young and maintain the burrows.
-
How do naked mole-rats keep warm?
Naked mole-rats have almost no fur. How do they stay warm?
How do naked mole-rats regulate their body temperature?
- By growing thick winter fur
- By huddling together and resting in warm tunnels
- By running around on top of the ground
Show the answer
By huddling together and resting in warm tunnels
They snuggle together and warm up in tunnels near the sunny ground.
They huddle in a big group and bask in shallow tunnels warmed by the sun.
Behaviorally: huddling slows heat loss and basking in sun-warmed shallow tunnels raises body temperature.
-
Where do naked mole-rats live?
Where do naked mole-rats live in the wild?
Which describes the naked mole-rat's natural range and habitat?
- In treetops in South America
- On sea ice in the Arctic
- Underground in eastern Africa
Show the answer
Underground in eastern Africa
They live under the ground in Africa.
In tunnels under dry lands in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti.
Subterranean burrows in arid grassland and scrub of the Horn of Africa, at 400 to 1,500 meters.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Kenya
Kenya is a country in East Africa, crossed by the equator. It has the snow-capped Mount Kenya, the deep Great Rift Valley, Lake Victoria and a long Indian Ocean coast, and about 54 million people live there, many of them speaking Swahili.
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Watch
Country
Ethiopia
Ethiopia is a country on the Horn of Africa with no coast. Much of it is high, rugged land cut by the Great Rift Valley, it is one of the world's oldest countries, and more than 110 million people live there.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how a naked mole-rat's body suits life underground.
- Explain what eusocial means, using the naked mole-rat colony as an example.
- Describe how naked mole-rats find food and water underground.
- Explain how naked mole-rats keep warm without fur.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might working as a team help animals that live in hard, dry ground?
- What would be good and hard about living your whole life underground?
- Why might eating the inside of a tuber but leaving the skin help a colony later?
Try at home or in class
- Make a conveyor-belt game: pass a ball of paper hand to hand down a line, like mole-rats moving soil along a tunnel.
- Measure 7.5 centimeters on a ruler and compare it with your finger to see how small a naked mole-rat is.
Key vocabulary: eusocial, colony, queen, tuber, subterranean, incisors
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Heterocephalus glaber (global assessment) , IUCN Red List
- Naked mole-rat , Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.