Are Mole Rats Bad?
WouterAmong the many questions people may have is, “Are mole rats bad?” These creatures are chatty and very social. However, one of their problems is that they have poor hearing. This causes them to be constantly chirping and squeaking. Neuroscientist Thomas Park of the University of Illinois Chicago and his colleagues studied the sound-hearing abilities of mole rats. They discovered that mole rats’ hearing ability is impaired due to a lack of cochlear amplification.
The underground burrows of these rodents are highly complex and contain elaborate tunnel systems. Some burrows are more than two miles long. These rodents often live in colonies and have multiple burrows. Some species are so large and complex that they have the appearance of a volcano. A mole rat’s burrows are also well-organized and contain chambers and caverns.
Although mice will die after 20 seconds of being deprived of oxygen, mole rats can survive for up to 18 minutes without oxygen. In this case, a mole rat’s cellular oxygen level may drop to eight to ten percent. This is because the mole rat’s red blood cells have a highly sticky hemoglobin that helps transport oxygen.
The naked mole-rat is the strangest mammal on the planet. This animal does not get tumors, is immune to chronic pain, and is immune to chili pepper irritants. It lives in underground colonies of up to 300 members. It has a queen and worker children, and each mammal has a role to play. The lifespan of a mole rat is much longer than that of a mouse and it is said that the rat’s cancer incidence is only ten percent higher than that of a mouse.
