It is hard to guess what a Naked mole-rat weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) on average weights 39 grams (0.09 lbs).
The Naked mole-rat is from the family Bathyergidae (genus: Heterocephalus). It is usually born with about 1 grams (0 lbs). They can live for up to 10 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 13 cm (0′ 6″). On average, Naked mole-rats can have babies 4 times per year with a litter size of 11.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), also known as the sand puppy, is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa. It is closely related to the blesmols and is the only species in the genus Heterocephalus of the family Heterocephalidae. The naked mole-rat and the Damaraland mole-rat (Fukomys damarensis) are the only known eusocial mammals, the highest classification of sociality. It has a highly unusual set of physical traits that allow it to thrive in a harsh underground environment and is the only mammalian thermoconformer, almost entirely ectothermic (cold-blooded) in how it regulates body temperature.The naked mole-rat lacks pain sensitivity in its skin, and has very low metabolic and respiratory rates. While formerly considered to belong to the same family as other African mole-rats, Bathyergidae, more recent investigation places it in a separate family, Heterocephalidae. The naked mole-rat is also remarkable for its longevity and its resistance to cancer and oxygen deprivation.
Animals of the same family as a Naked mole-rat
We found other animals of the Bathyergidae family:
- Silvery mole-rat with a weight of 160 grams
- Common mole-rat with a weight of 74 grams
- Damaraland mole-rat with a weight of 112 grams
- Zambian mole-rat with a weight of 76 grams
- Mashona mole-rat with a weight of 65 grams
- Mechow’s mole-rat with a weight of 272 grams
- Bocage’s mole-rat with a weight of 93 grams
- Namaqua dune mole-rat with a weight of 389 grams
- Ochre mole-rat with a weight of 200 grams
- Cape dune mole-rat with a weight of 804 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Naked mole-rat
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Heterocephalus glaber:
- Linnaeus’s mouse opossum bringing 36 grams to the scale
- Gleaning mouse bringing 35 grams to the scale
- Greater Wilfred’s mouse bringing 46 grams to the scale
- Northern collared lemming bringing 46 grams to the scale
- Chestnut-striped opossum bringing 45 grams to the scale
- Rudd’s mouse bringing 35 grams to the scale
- Ernst Mayr’s water rat bringing 42 grams to the scale
- Greater noctule bat bringing 45 grams to the scale
- Red-nosed mouse bringing 46 grams to the scale
- North African elephant shrew bringing 43 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Naked mole-rat
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Naked mole-rat:
- Stuhlmann’s golden mole with a size of 12.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Japanese water shrew with a size of 11.6 cm (0′ 5″)
- Long-tailed hopping mouse with a size of 13.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Broad-striped dasyure with a size of 12.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Hylaeamys megacephalus with a size of 12.2 cm (0′ 5″)
- Long-tailed vole with a size of 11.9 cm (0′ 5″)
- Patagonian opossum with a size of 13.6 cm (0′ 6″)
- Coast mole with a size of 12.3 cm (0′ 5″)
- Pocock’s highland rat with a size of 12.8 cm (0′ 6″)
- Red-bellied mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 14.3 cm (0′ 6″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Naked mole-rat
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (11) as a Naked mole-rat:
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Naked mole-rat
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Naked mole-rat:
- Common spotted cuscus with an average maximal age of 11 years
- Dice’s cottontail with an average maximal age of 9 years
- Red-legged sun squirrel with an average maximal age of 8.83 years
- Striped possum with an average maximal age of 9.58 years
- Philippine porcupine with an average maximal age of 9.5 years
- Blanford’s fox with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Yellow-bellied marmot with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Cape fox with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Saiga antelope with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Tasmanian pademelon with an average maximal age of 10 years