Naked Mole Rat Queen Tere Peacefully Hands Throne to Daughter Arwen
A naked mole rat queen named Tere in California gave up her throne to her daughter Arwen without any fighting. This is rare because naked mole rat colonies usually have bloody wars when choosing a new queen.
Queen Tere stepped down from leading her naked mole rat colony in California and passed power to her daughter Arwen without violence. This is unusual because naked mole rat colonies typically have brutal fights to the death when selecting new queens.
Naked mole rats live in underground colonies like bees or ants, with one queen who has babies while other rats work as soldiers or laborers. When queens die or get old, several females usually fight until only one survives to take over.
But Tere's peaceful handover avoided those costs. Researcher Abeywardena noted that "aggressive fatal queen wars add costs because you risk injury" and losing colony members. Now Tere can enjoy retirement as "Queen Grandmother of the colony" and may live another twenty years.
The peaceful transition gives the colony advantages by keeping all members alive and avoiding the chaos of civil war. Scientists are watching to see if this rare behavior becomes more common in other colonies.
This peaceful change shows animals can sometimes avoid violence even when it's normal for their species. Scientists study naked mole rats because they live longer than other rodents and rarely get cancer, which could help human medicine.
Researchers will monitor how Queen Arwen leads the colony and whether other naked mole rat groups adopt peaceful succession.
Was this article helpful?
0 people found this helpful