Beady eyes, protruding fangs, wrinkly skin — the naked mole rat looks like it may have dropped down to Earth from another planet. In reality, the small mammals are very much at home on our planet, spending much of their lives underground in tight-knit societies centered around a dominant queen.
Odd appearance aside, the naked mole rat is a marvel of strange abilities and adaptations. For starters, they're cold-blooded mammals — one of few in existence. That trait, like many others they possess, is probably due to their subterranean lifestyle. Life is just different underground.
But it gets weirder. Naked mole rats live in societies with insect-like social structures, have abnormally long life spans and eat each other's poop. Oh, and they can't really feel pain.
