Wildlife
Damaraland mole rat
Damaraland mole rats and naked mole rats are the only known eusocial mammals. This means they behave like bees or ants by living in a colony with a single breeding female (the queen) and related, reproductively suppressed, workers and soldiers.
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Damara mole rats
Wild Africa
Living together and sharing the work.
Damara mole rats spend their lives underground, digging tunnels to look for roots and bulbs. But digging takes 1,000 times more energy than travelling on the surface, so for their existence to be possible they live in communal family groups. Only the queen is fertile and produces young sterile females which will eventually join in the hunt for food for the family.
Distribution
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Damaraland mole rat can be found in a number of locations including: Africa. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
Habitats
The following habitats are found across the Damaraland mole rat distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Behaviours
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Predation defence
Co-operative breeding
Hierarchical
Eusocial
Burrower
Tactile sense
Acoustic communication
Herbivorous
Monogamous
Active at birth
Chemical communication
Viviparous
SocialAdditional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Conservation Status
Least Concern
- EX - Extinct
- EW
- CR - Threatened
- EN - Threatened
- VU - Threatened
- NT
- LC - Least concern
Population trend: Stable
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
About
The Damaraland mole rat, or Damaraland blesmol (Fukomys damarensis) is a burrowing rodent found in sub-Saharan Africa. Along with the smaller, less hairy naked mole rat, it is one of only two known eusocial mammals.
Named after Damaraland, Namibia, the Damaraland mole rat lives in continually excavated networks of underground tunnels, which it digs with its front teeth, which are essentially outside its mouth. Thus, while burrowing tunnels, it can bite away the soil in front of it while keeping its mouth closed.
The Damaraland mole rat lives in eusocial colonies of up to 40 individuals dominated by a single breeding pair.
Often compared with the naked mole rat for its many characteristic similarities, the Damaraland species is different in several ways. Aside from being bigger and hairier, it is also less vocal, making only some birdlike chirps. The colonies are generally less numerous than those of the naked mole rat.
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Elsewhere on the web
- Animal Diversity Web (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- ARKive: Images of Life on Earth (arkive.org)
- IUCN Red List information (iucnredlist.org)
- Damaraland Mole Rat (wikipedia.org)
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