Naked-Mole-Rat Queens Control Their Subjects by Having Them Eat Poop
Feces turn subordinates into better caretakers for the colony’s pups.
Naked mole rats are intensely social creatures, and poop is a central part of their social lives.
For one, they like to roll around in the designated toilet chambers of their large underground colonies, picking up the distinctive odor that marks them as a colony member. As wee little pups, they “beg” for poop to eat—literally chirping and scratching at adults’ butts. It’s a way, scientists think, of needed to digest tough roots and
