Not one but three species of the naked mole-rat, a new biomedical model

Not one but three species of the naked mole-rat, a new biomedical model | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Biological Sciences - Article Not one but three species of the naked mole-rat, a new biomedical model Radim Šumbera, Michaela Uhrová, Ondřej Mikula, Josef Bryja, Petra Frýdlová, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5587985/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Modern biomedical research is characterised by a need for new animal models1 and particularly those from unique or challenging environments and with peculiar characteristics seems to be the most promising2,3. Among mammals, the naked mole-rat Heterocephalus glaber from the Horn of Africa is one of such candidates. Although this small hairless exclusively subterranean rodent has attracted the attention of the scientific community for decades, mainly due to its poikilothermy and eusociality, the exponential trajectory of research started in 21st century with discoveries of its longevity, resistance to cancer and tolerance to pain and hypoxia, in addition to many other intriguing phenomena4–6. The genus Heterocephalus has traditionally been considered to include only a single species, but surprisingly, little is known about genetic differences among its natural populations. Here, we report from mitochondrial and nuclear genomic data across its distributional range, the existence of three species of naked mole-rat, namely: H. glaber, H. ansorgei, and H. philipsi. Among them, H. philipsi stands out as being the most distinct. Its divergence from the rest is 4.1 Ma before the present making it considerably older than most recent mammalian species, cf.7. The existence of three species that inhabit different environmental conditions, and especially the occurrence of H. philipsi in extremely harsh areas, opens up new horizons for the use of this model in biomedical and other fields of research. Biological sciences/Zoology Biological sciences/Evolution/Phylogenetics Biological sciences/Evolution/Taxonomy Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files HeterocephalusSupplTable1.xlsx Supplementary table 1 HeterocephalusSuppl.pdf Supplementary information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5587985","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Biological Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":388466229,"identity":"1eb902bc-1d9f-4489-9288-05c4b7402886","order_by":0,"name":"Radim Šumbera","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA0klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNhAhx8DA+IBBghQtxgwMzAakaUlsAGkhCsjPyE578HGPXfp26cMMDBY1hxn4+w/g12JwI3e74Yxnybk7+5IZGCSOHWaQOEBIi0TuNmmeA8y5G87wH2CQbDjMYMDYQMhhQC1/DtSnG5xhZoBoYSbkmRtALQwHDicgtLAR0GFw5u12w54Dxw139jAzHJA4ls4jcYaAFvn23G0PfhyoljfnYWZ8LFFjLUcwxBDWAfFhYFTyEKkeqoXxA/HqR8EoGAWjYAQBANk6PjHQfMdCAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Radim","middleName":"","lastName":"Šumbera","suffix":""},{"id":388466230,"identity":"cb32ff16-4b30-4a66-8e34-fca8df3ede93","order_by":1,"name":"Michaela Uhrová","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michaela","middleName":"","lastName":"Uhrová","suffix":""},{"id":388466231,"identity":"c125d286-7a66-4367-87e7-67b6d7d99fa1","order_by":2,"name":"Ondřej Mikula","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ondřej","middleName":"","lastName":"Mikula","suffix":""},{"id":388466232,"identity":"870ba29c-e782-4bb1-85fc-441169c56878","order_by":3,"name":"Josef Bryja","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Josef","middleName":"","lastName":"Bryja","suffix":""},{"id":388466233,"identity":"0bf7321b-9d5a-44a8-af51-e921dd923b66","order_by":4,"name":"Petra Frýdlová","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Petra","middleName":"","lastName":"Frýdlová","suffix":""},{"id":388466234,"identity":"60764225-475a-47ba-975b-5d63e10aea2e","order_by":5,"name":"Elena Zemlemerova","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"A. 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Among mammals, the naked mole-rat Heterocephalus glaber from the Horn of Africa is one of such candidates. Although this small hairless exclusively subterranean rodent has attracted the attention of the scientific community for decades, mainly due to its poikilothermy and eusociality, the exponential trajectory of research started in 21st century with discoveries of its longevity, resistance to cancer and tolerance to pain and hypoxia, in addition to many other intriguing phenomena4–6. The genus Heterocephalus has traditionally been considered to include only a single species, but surprisingly, little is known about genetic differences among its natural populations. Here, we report from mitochondrial and nuclear genomic data across its distributional range, the existence of three species of naked mole-rat, namely: H. glaber, H. ansorgei, and H. philipsi. Among them, H. philipsi stands out as being the most distinct. Its divergence from the rest is 4.1 Ma before the present making it considerably older than most recent mammalian species, cf.7. The existence of three species that inhabit different environmental conditions, and especially the occurrence of H. philipsi in extremely harsh areas, opens up new horizons for the use of this model in biomedical and other fields of research.","manuscriptTitle":"Not one but three species of the naked mole-rat, a new biomedical model","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-12-25 03:21:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5587985/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"5c6cd0ae-42ae-4ef8-8e7d-8ab8b389bae4","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 25th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":41397087,"name":"Biological sciences/Zoology"},{"id":41397088,"name":"Biological sciences/Evolution/Phylogenetics"},{"id":41397089,"name":"Biological sciences/Evolution/Taxonomy"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-12-25T03:21:30+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-12-25 03:21:30","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5587985","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5587985","identity":"rs-5587985","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}