Naked mole rats are known for being hairless and living cooperatively, until there’s a bloody succession war to replace their queen. But a recent report in Science Advances documents a colony maintained by researchers in California that has transitioned peacefully.
Queen Tere ceded the throne to her daughter Queen Arwen without violence. The unexpected bloodless succession shows there’s still more to learn about these social creatures.
NPR’s Pien Huang reports.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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