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Social Behavior in Naked Mole-Rats: Individual Differences in Phenotype and Proximate Mechanisms of Mammalian Eusociality

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The Extraordinary Biology of the Naked Mole-Rat

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1319))

Abstract

Naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) are small rodents native to east Africa, living in subterranean colonies of up to 300 individuals. Within each colony, reproduction is restricted to a single breeding female and 1–3 breeding males; all other colony members are reproductively suppressed and socially subordinate unless removed from the suppressive cues of the colony. Due to their striking reproductive skew, naked mole-rats are often considered eusocial mammals. Consistent with this idea, there are behavioral specializations and at least some evidence for morphological distinctions within and between the breeding and non-breeding members of the colony. Importantly, naked mole-rats show plasticity in their behavioral phenotype whereby changes in the social environment influence expression of both type and amount of social behavior. Thus, naked mole-rats provide the opportunity to examine the proximate mechanisms controlling individual differences in social behavior, shedding light on how mammals live in complex social groups.

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Photo Credit: Gil Wizen

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada

    Melissa M. Holmes

  2. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Melissa M. Holmes

  3. Department of Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Melissa M. Holmes

  4. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Bruce D. Goldman

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  1. Melissa M. Holmes
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Correspondence to Melissa M. Holmes .

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  1. Calico Life Sciences LLC, South San Francisco, CA, USA

    Rochelle Buffenstein

  2. Laboratory of Integrative NeuroscienceDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Thomas J. Park

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada

    Melissa M. Holmes

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Holmes, M.M., Goldman, B.D. (2021). Social Behavior in Naked Mole-Rats: Individual Differences in Phenotype and Proximate Mechanisms of Mammalian Eusociality. In: Buffenstein, R., Park, T.J., Holmes, M.M. (eds) The Extraordinary Biology of the Naked Mole-Rat. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1319. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65943-1_2

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