Eusociality in a Mammal: Cooperative Breeding in Naked Mole-Rat Colonies
- 1 May 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 212 (4494) , 571-573
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.7209555
Abstract
Laboratory observations on a field-collected colony of 40 Heterocephalus have shown that only a single female breeds. The remaining individuals constitute two or three castes, each containing both sexes and distinguishable by size differences and the tasks they perform. These features, together with long life-spans, overlap of generations, cooperative brood care, and possible age polyethism provide parallels with the eusocial insects.This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
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- Olfactory Communication in MammalsAnnual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 1972
- Burrowing and burrow patterns of East African mole‐rats Tachyoryctes, Heliophobius and HeterocephalusJournal of Zoology, 1971
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