
Naked mole-rats: A case study in biological weirdness - apsec112
https://eukaryotewritesblog.com/2019/05/19/naked-mole-rats-a-case-study-in-biological-weirdness/
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oicu812
Unfortunately the article didn't mention their unique gut microbiota. [0]

"The naked mole-rat possesses a unique gut microbiome composition..." and
"This might suggest a possible role of the gut microbiota as a universal
contributor to mammalian health, which goes beyond the host phylogeny and
ecology constrains, supporting health and longevity of the mammalian host."

[0]
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-10287-0](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-10287-0)

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dmlorenzetti
The Errol Morris documentary "Fast, Cheap & Out of Control" has a segment on
mole rats [0].

I think that movie would appeal to a lot of HN members -- it's broadly about
people who obsessively pursue some interesting corner of skill or knowledge,
and how that makes the world a richer place. Kind of like the "Fred Dibnah,
Stepplejack" series that I learned about on HN ([1], and I know it made HN
about 7 years ago as well).

[0]
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119107/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119107/)

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9796254](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9796254)

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needlesurgeon
Of all of the points listed, their eusocial nature is (to me) the weirdest. A
quick Google search [0] shows that eusocial organization actually manifests
not only with behavior, but with changes in physical characteristics. The
'queen' is bigger (presumably to facilitate having babies) and the guards
develop longer teeth. Presumably, they're still diploid.

So, to anyone who speaks evolutionary genetics: what gives? My understanding
was that it's evolutionarily advantageous for eusocial insects to cooperate at
least in part because they're haploid.

[0]
[https://www.reed.edu/biology/professors/srenn/pages/teaching...](https://www.reed.edu/biology/professors/srenn/pages/teaching/web_2006/Mole_Rat_cd_dtb/sstructure.html)

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hellllllllooo
"They don't age" but what causes then to only live only until "30+ years old"
in a zoo?

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Rooster61
The same things that make a human with a ~73 year life expectancy die at 30.
Disease, trauma, unnatural death, etc...

