Inspired by real-world realms, cultural people invented the concept of utopia—the ideal state of eternal peace, where everyone is happy. From the pattern of "the world for the public", to the feelings of peach blossom source, Shangri-La, and Eden, it is our yearning.
These are all present in nature. True social animals do show to a certain extent the ideological realm of the world for the public.
African mole
Typical eusocial animals include all termites, all ants, many bees, some gall-producing hemiptera (aphids), and a type of beetle.
Oh yes, in addition to the "zergs", eusocial animals include some shrimp that live in corals, sponge fortresses. Note that including the bugs mentioned above, as well as the shrimp in the sea, are arthropods.
Of the vertebrates, only the African mole has performed this feat in evolution.
African mole rats (Blesmols), like many other burrowing mammals, have greatly reduced eyes and pinna, and they have velvety fur.
These moles live in complex cave systems, and different species exhibit varying degrees of sociality. Two of these species, the Damaralan mole rat (Fukomys damarensis) and the famous naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) are considered to be the only two eusocial mammals -
There is only one active female in a community, while the rest of the animals are sterile.
The mystery of abnormal fertility in naked mole rats
In eusocial species, the queen's long-term fertility is very important.
Mammalian fertility is known to plummet with age – mainly due to the depletion of embryonic development and the depletion of the mother's limited number of egg cells.
The functional lifespan of the ovaries depends on a limited number of oocytes, which gradually decrease with age. Therefore, the existence of reproductive aging, allowing mammals to be constantly born by a queen like bees/ants, is extremely strange to build a kingdom.
However, the naked mole queen did. During its average lifespan of 18 years, with a known limit of 37 years, fertility or fecundity never decreases.
This is based on three evolutionary miracles: first, under MRI, ovarian histology images show that naked mole rats have an unusually high number of primitive follicles; Second, not many of these cells die during maternal growth; Finally, naked mole rats continue to produce more eggs throughout their lives.
If we can figure out how they do these three things, it may also be very helpful for human health.
In the world as a public utopia, there are also escapees
The naked mole rat queen relies on a strong fertility building kingdom on the one hand, and on the other hand, she suppresses the reproduction of other females through hormones to maintain her queen status.
When individuals are no longer responsible for reproduction, the "selfish" task of perpetuating genes falls on the rise and fall of the entire population.
In groups ranging from dozens to hundreds of naked mole rats, group members share tasks, including digging tunnels, caring for cubs, and collecting food. Some obese individuals who eat all day and do not work much are responsible for guarding off natural enemies such as snakes such as Kenyan sand pythons when they invade - becoming sacrifices and blocking passages until the snakes are full.
Are there any drawbacks to utopia?
Inbreeding is a common phenomenon in naked mole rat populations. But, in response, naked mole rats have also evolved an interesting mechanism.
Among the members of the naked mole rat group "brainwashed" by the queen, every once in a while, there will be "escapees" - individuals who are different in morphology, physiology and behavior from the group members, and actively seek to leave the cave when the opportunity to escape arises.
The behavior of these escapees in the lair looks similar at first glance to those fat people who eat and work all day long, waiting to block the way and feed the snakes.
But, in reality, these "alternative" naked mole rats are stockpiling a lot of fat in advance for their journey and accumulating extremely high levels of luteinizing hormone (sex hormone) in their bodies. They have no "sexual" interest in members of their own population, are not interested in working with their partners in birth caves, and are bent on fleeing to foreign colonies to mate.
Ha, it sounds a bit excessive...
Write at the end
In a paper published in Modern Biology in 2009, it was pointed out that the "escapees" in naked mole rats are actually tasked with facilitating the exchange of individual and genetic material between two different groups.
Rising to the perspective of species, this group of escaped "grandchildren" is actually very important.
Author thanks for your attention (- _-)