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naked mole rat

American

noun

a nearly hairless rodent, Heterocephalus glaber, of eastern African dry steppes and savannas, having two protruding upper and lower front teeth and living entirely underground in colonies, based on a single breeding female and specialized workers of both sexes.

Example Sentences

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In humans and mice, cGAS can interfere with some forms of DNA repair, but the naked mole rat version appears to help cells repair DNA damage more effectively.

From Science Daily • May 10, 2026

A new study of the bizarre naked mole rat shows that the animals have evolved a DNA repair mechanism that could explain their longevity.

From BBC • Oct. 9, 2025

A naked mole rat is seen in a display enclosure of a new building for small mammals, birds, carnivorous plants and insectivorous animals at the zoological-botanical garden in Stuttgart.

From Salon • May 11, 2025

He started in 2006 with the naked mole rat and has since photographed thousands more, including the Indochinese green magpie, the Arabian cobra, and the güiña, a small spotted cat from South America.

From National Geographic • Nov. 28, 2023

There are a few other candidate genes that we’ve discovered, not only in whales but in rodents such as the naked mole rat.

From Scientific American • Jul. 31, 2023

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.