The animal that feels no pain and barely gets cancer
This wrinkly rodent feels no pain, almost never gets cancer, and barely seems to age.
The short version
The naked mole rat lives over 30 years — about ten times longer than a similar-sized rodent — almost never develops cancer, and can't feel certain kinds of pain. When oxygen runs out, it switches its metabolism to run on plant sugar, and it lives in insect-like colonies ruled by a single queen.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Naked Mole Rat can switch its body to run on plant sugar when oxygen runs out, almost like a plant.
- ✓The Naked Mole Rat lives over 30 years, roughly ten times longer than any rodent its size.
- ✓The Naked Mole Rat shrugs off almost every cancer and barely seems to age at all.
- ✓The Naked Mole Rat cannot feel certain kinds of pain, like acid or the burn of a chili.
- ✓The Naked Mole Rat lives in colonies ruled by a single breeding queen, just like an ant nest.
The full story
This wrinkly little rodent feels no pain, almost never gets cancer, and barely seems to age. Meet the naked mole rat, one of the strangest mammals alive. It lives over thirty years, which is roughly ten times longer than any rodent its size, and scientists struggle to find them dying of old age at all. Its body shrugs off most cancers, and it cannot feel certain kinds of pain, like acid or the burn of a chili. Even weirder, when the oxygen runs low in its crowded underground tunnels, it simply switches its body to run on plant sugar instead, almost like a plant. And the colony works just like an ant nest, with one breeding queen who bosses everyone else around. Wrinkly, nearly blind, and basically a superhero. Follow for more weird animal facts.
Watch the 45-second version
Naked Mole Rat gallery
