Babies!!!

On Friday, May 27, Life Sciences staff received the following memo from Animal Care Lead Brianna Todd:

Hey all,
Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that Galinda gave birth last night. The babies look remarkably big and robust. We counted at least twelve this morning but there may be more.

Because the first week can be very challenging for mole rat pups, it is our policy to not make a formal naked mole rat baby announcement until at least five days have passed. It has been five days, so consider this blog post our official notice. The original litter was 20 pups – a rather large number for all the pups to be viable. As of Thursday morning we still have four little ones, gaining nourishment from nursing. It is now Thursday afternoon and the four pups continue to be active and show signs of growth.



Although day five is our big day for determining that the pups have a good chance of survival, there are still some challenges ahead as they incorporate solid food into their diet. But getting to this point is most heartening.

If it seems like a long time since our colony successfully produced offspring, you are right. Last offspring are now fifteen months old.