Gadagkar, R (2021) Gadagkar, R., 2021. More Fun Than Fun: The Unlikely Stardom of the Naked Mole Rat. The Wire Science. In:
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Abstract
I knew about the naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) as a little curiosity in my field of research on social insects, the curiosity being that it is the only known eusocial (truly social) mammal, comparable in many ways to eusocial ants, bees and wasps. Imagine my surprise while browsing the internet when I came across a children’s book entitled Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by the American best-selling creator of children’s books, Mo Willems. In the story, one naked mole rat ‘Wilbur’ decides to be different and defy societal norms by wearing clothes, allowing the author to teach children about tolerating other people who may be different from us. I soon discovered a flood of ‘naked mole rat’ children’s books. In Naked Mole Rat Saves the World, author Karen Rivers weaves a children’s fantasy about a 12-year old girl turning into a naked mole rat to save the world. Then there is the series The Adventures of Herman the Naked Mole Rat by Mark and Julia Wagman. In The Naked Mole Rat Letters by Mary Amato, a girl in seventh grade saves her parents’ marriage by sabotaging her father’s affair with a zookeeper who cares for naked mole rats. There is also the Burlesque about Men and Women entitled Naked Mole Rats in the World of Darkness by Mike Folie, not quite for children, I am afraid. Of course, there are also several factual books, such as [Naked Mole-Rats Unique Animal Adaptations by Emily Hudd, Naked Mole Rats (Nocturnal Animals) by Kristin Petrie, and many more.
| Item Type: | Editorials/Short Communications |
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| Additional Information: | The copyright of this article belongs to the Authors. |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Mar 2021 06:21 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Jun 2022 07:19 |
| URI: | https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/68425 |
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