[FulcrumPilot]

The bossy queen rules her brood with brute force, often venturing from her nest to check up on subordinates. Researchers Paul Sherman and Kern Reeve from Cornell observed that if the queen discovers more food is needed, a tunnel has caved in, or danger is near she will shove the workers and soldiers around, prodding them into action. The queen also seems to use prolonged nose-to-nose shoving to prevent other naked mole-rats from breeding.

The ordered world of naked mole-rats rapidly disintegrates into chaos when a colony’s queen weakens or dies. High-ranking females—typically larger solider mole-rats—gain weight and begin fighting for ascension to the throne, sometimes to the death. They shove, bite, and fence with their large incisors. The battle in the burrow may go on for weeks or even months before one female vanquishes all her adversaries and emerges as the new queen.

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publicatio...edmolerats.cfm


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[wdlove]

I don't think that I would want to mess with the queen.

[JoshuaZ]

Its good to be the queen.

[ghporter]

Naked (gasp!) Mole Rats! (ewww!). I first learned about these unlovely critters from Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Interesting little critters. Not my idea of nice pets, though.

[SimpleLife]

Suggested further reading:

"Coalescent", by Steven Baxter.

You'll understand at the end...