N is for ...

The first animal that changed my entire perspective of science or more correctly the limitation of facts was the naked mole rat. It is an ugly mammal that lives underground. It is also one of the most unique mammals understood in my time. 

The naked mole rat was discovered more than a century ago by the West. However, as it lived most of its life underground, most facts are about it was not discovered until later. The first fact was that this was a mammal that could not control its body temperature.All mammals used to be considered warm blooded but the naked mole rat was the first mammal that I knew that was not able to regulate its body temperature internally. Having said that, most naked mole rats do regulate their body temperature by seeking cooler places or sunning themselves or huddling in masses. 

The reason that I knew about this fact was not that I stumbled upon this animal. Like the ancient western explorers, I have at most pick up a specimen to be stuffed or even walk right over it. I learnt about this animal in a round about way. I had an acquaintance whose child was getting a science quiz. Apparently one of the questions that he got wrong was that he chose the answer that mammals were warm blooded. Naturally, the mother hit the roof and complained to me about this issue. I was quite knowledgeable and I agreed with her opinion. I was, however, quite intrigued by that issue and decided to delve deeper into the matter. 

I went home that day and looked up the definition of a mammal in an encyclopedia (Wikipedia was not invented at that time.). To my surprise, it stated three facts but left out the warm-blooded characteristic. Hairy, vertebrate and nurse its young. I then looked up Internet for the cold-blooded mammal and found that the naked mole rat was a candidate. 

If you had studied the naked mole rat, you would have noticed that this fact was only part of the reason of the uniqueness of this creature. The biggest reason why this animal is unique is that it is eusocial. It lives in a colony similar in social structure to ants and bees. The queen gives birth to the young. It is bigger than the other animals. The other female naked mole rat must forage for food to feed the colony. A new queen must leave the colony to set up a new colony.    

The naked mole rat is immune to pain, cancer, and aging. These three features are the reason why the animal is heavily researched.