NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Desert Mole Rat
Heterocephalus glaber Rüppell, 1842
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), also known as the sand puppy, is a burrowing rodent native to the Horn of Africa and parts of Kenya, notably in Somali regions. It is the only species in the genus Heterocephalus.
The naked mole-rat exhibits a highly unusual set of physiological and behavioural traits that allow it to thrive in a harsh underground environment, most notably its being the only mammalian thermoconformer with an almost entirely ectothermic (cold-blooded) form of body temperature regulation, as well as exhibiting eusociality, a complex social structure including a reproductive division of labour, separation of reproductive and non-reproductive castes, and cooperative care of young. The closely related Damaraland mole-rat (Fukomys damarensis) is the only other known eusocial mammal. Naked mole-rats lack pain sensitivity in their skin, and have very low metabolic and respiratory rates. The animal is also remarkable for its longevity and resistance to cancer and oxygen deprivation.
Although closely related to the blesmols, more recent investigation places it in a separate, exclusive family, Heterocephalidae, and no longer in the same family as other African mole-rats, Bathyergidae.
Wikipedia contributors, Naked mole-rat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:05:36.379009+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Heterocephalus glaber Rüppell, 1842
- Name authority
- Rüppell, 1842
- Common name
- Desert Mole Rat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Heterocephalidae
- Genus
- Heterocephalus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderHystricomorpha Brandt, 1855
- infraorderHystricognathi Brandt, 1855
- familyHeterocephalidae Landry, 1957
- genusHeterocephalus Rüppell, 1842
- speciesHeterocephalus glaber Rüppell, 1842
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Heterocephalus progrediens Lönnberg, 1911 Lönnberg, 1911 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=584677 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3L83H. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.