Naked Mole Rat

By Sarah Clark

Naked mole rat colonies Are like a hive that’s full of bees, Or termites in a mound addressed Or ants that live inside their nest. One queen, she’s boss, she’s large and mean, A male or three for her harem, The other mole rats do not breed Soldiers, workers, roles decreed, Sterile unless the queen shows weakness Then they start to shed their meekness: Girls fight to death to be queen regnant And be the one who can get pregnant. Patiently prepped to bide their time, The winner gets to stretch her spine! The new queen grows to twice her size, Fertile once the old queen dies, Which might have taken thirty years These mole rats have such long careers! The longest living rodent by far And still more reasons they’re bizarre...

They live in tunnels underground, There’s not much air to go around Most creatures die in such conditions But they don’t need to call morticians. In low oxygen they just get colder And have a trick so they get older, (They get older but they do not age, We study them to try and gauge If we can learn from them the answer To curing a disease they don’t get – cancer.) Back to coldness – oh, did you know? Mammals are warm-blooded, right? No! They break this mammal norm And do not keep their own blood warm, Using surrounding heat in the same style As pure cold-blooded reptiles. When oxygen is low or non-existent They remain remarkably resistant,

Like plants, but like no other beast They change the sugar they burn, at least Eighteen minutes with air unbreathable By this sugar switch becomes achievable.

A naked mole rat is no beauty, Lifelong donning her birthday suit She’s furless, nearly deaf and blind In warmth and darkness live her kind She can’t feel acid on her skin And other pain does not begin To touch her when most would really hurt, Useful when living under dirt, In tunnels that are hot, acidic It would not help to feel too sick. They part-eat tubers, to let regrow Drink no water, light forgo, They like to roll in their own poo Not only that - it feeds them too! They like to eat their own poo twice The queen’s poo makes them extra nice. The queen-poo-eating babysitters Are better nurses to the littlest critters. Though nice perhaps is a word to save –They kidnap pups to make their slaves When naked mole rats go to war Against the colonies next door.

Little ninjas, with loose skin That they can really wriggle in, Huge teeth protrude before their lips Which they can use just like chopsticks To get a grip, or dig, or gnaw, A quarter their muscle in their jaw To scoop out soil their lips stayed sealed So their mouths don’t get all mud-congealed, Stiff hairs on feet that act like brooms That they can use to sweep their rooms. Running forwards, backwards just as fast, Digging a tunnel network vast, Their tunnel homes can stretch for miles Naked mole rats have weird lifestyles Little, long-lived, mammalian, But like insect, reptile, plant - quite alien!

Above: Portrait of the author, aka Odious Ologist. © Sarah Clark. All rights reserved

About the author

Despite being 40, Sarah Clark hasn’t grown up yet. She revels in the gloriously ghastly bits of biology and writes poetry for children about these subjects.

She hopes her poems of parasites, poo and peculiar animals will nurture a sense of wonder at the natural world.

Alongside each poem the Odious Ologist website has “discover more” links, videos and ideas for investigation, like how to catch and view local tardigrades or your own face mites.

Links

Website: https://odiousologist.co.uk/ Instagram: @odiousologist Twitter: @esperapasero