{"id":831844,"date":"2026-07-28T17:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/831844\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T17:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:37:12","slug":"how-the-naked-mole-rat-queen-uses-a-secret-scent-to-prevent-a-violent-coup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/831844\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Naked Mole Rat Queen Uses a Secret Scent to Prevent a Violent Coup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Close-up<\/a>Heterocephalus glaber. Credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

A naked mole-rat <\/a>queen does not need a crown. She carries her power in her scent.<\/p>\n

In a new study, researchers report that naked mole-rat queens produce a chemical called isopropyl myristate, or IPM, that temporarily keeps other females infertile and their colonies orderly. This is one of the clearest examples yet of a mammalian \u201cqueen pheromone,\u201d a chemical tool more at home in ants and bees than in mammals.<\/p>\n

A Mammal Hive<\/p>\n

\"Puppies<\/a>Model of a naked mole-rat colony, with workers on the top, soldiers in the middle, and the queen\u2019s quarters on the bottom. Credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

Naked mole-rats already stretch the definition of mammal.<\/p>\n

Native to the dry grasslands and savannas of East Africa, they spend almost their entire lives in darkness, moving through tunnel systems that can stretch for miles. Their pink, wrinkled skin has little hair and their eyes are tiny and weak. Their front teeth jut outside their lips, forming chisel-like tools that let them dig through hard soil without filling their mouths with dirt.<\/p>\n

Naked mole-rats<\/a> can tolerate low oxygen, are impervious to pain and cancer<\/a>, and live for decades, far longer than rodents of similar size. They navigate by smell, touch, and chirping calls, packing their colonies with relatives that behave more like members of an insect hive than a typical mammal family. Only one female becomes queen. A few males mate with her. The rest are designated to work: digging tunnels, finding roots and tubers, guarding the burrow, and tending the young they will never produce themselves.<\/p>\n

Biologists call this arrangement eusociality: a society with overlapping generations, shared care of young and a steep reproductive divide. It is common in bees, ants, and termites. Not so common at all among mammals, though.<\/p>\n

Scientists already knew the queen\u2019s presence kept the colony\u2019s other females from reproducing. When she died or disappeared, high-ranking females fought for her place, sometimes fatally. But researchers did not know how she held the system together.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a long time, the theory was that the queen is larger and more aggressive than the other animals, exerting her dominance through pushing and shoving,\u201d Gary Lewin of the Max Delbr\u00fcck Center told New Scientist<\/a>. \u201cBut we never found that very satisfying as an explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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His team suspected smell.<\/p>\n

The Royal Chemical Signature<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/a>Say what you want, but they are fascinating and adorable little beasts. Credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

The researchers collected odor samples from 351 naked mole-rats of different ranks, ages, and reproductive states. One molecule stood out.<\/p>\n

IPM appeared in abundance around queens and was nearly absent from nonbreeding males and females. It was strongest in vaginal, anal, and mouth secretions, rose during ovulation and dropped during pregnancy and lactation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really aiming to just identify the chemical profile of the naked mole-rats,\u201d Mohammed Khallaf, a neuroscientist at the Max Delbr\u00fcck Center and first author of the study, told Nature<\/a>. \u201cI got very excited when we found this compound that\u2019s only produced by the queen.\u201d<\/p>\n

IPM is not exotic to humans. It appears in cosmetics as a solvent and moisturizer, and the study notes that humans generally detect it weakly, if at all. Naked mole-rats, however, sensed it clearly. The compound activated smell cells in the nose and odor-processing regions of the brain.<\/p>\n

Its physical traits fit tunnel life. IPM is oily and does not evaporate easily, so it likely does not spread far through air. Queens patrol the colony and may smear the molecule across walls, bedding, and bodies as they move.<\/p>\n

Fertility on Hold<\/p>\n

\"Diagram<\/a>Illustration of how a queen\u2019s scent keeps a naked mole-rat colony in line. Credit: Nature<\/p>\n

The strongest evidence came when researchers removed nonbreeding male-female pairs from colonies.<\/p>\n

Pairs kept without queen-related odor bred readily: five of six females became pregnant. Pairs exposed to colony bedding did not. Pairs sprayed daily with IPM also did not. Their reproductive hormones stayed suppressed.<\/p>\n

The molecule appeared to act through prolactin, a hormone best known for stimulating milk production. High prolactin can also reduce fertility. In naked mole-rats, IPM raised prolactin and lowered progesterone, a hormone linked to reproductive readiness.<\/p>\n

Then came the experiment inside an actual functioning colony. <\/p>\n

The scientists removed a queen from a colony of 19 animals, a situation that normally triggers a violent succession crisis. They added IPM to the bedding every day. For 12 weeks, no new queen emerged, no females became pregnant, and the colony stayed calm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe produced peacefulness,\u201d Lewin added. \u201cThat\u2019s probably the most dramatic experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the researchers stopped adding IPM, all hell broke loose. Prolactin levels fell. Progesterone rose. High-ranking females began fighting. One female died after an attack, and another gained weight, became pregnant, and took over as queen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that a single scent can maintain peace and prevent violence may sound like science fiction,\u201d Khallaf said in a Max Delbr\u00fcck Center statement. \u201cIn the world of naked mole-rats, it is reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study does not have all the answers. Scientists still do not know how queens make IPM, which receptors detect it, or why queens and breeding males do not become infertile themselves. But the discovery turns an old mystery into a molecule researchers can add, remove, and test. In one of nature\u2019s strangest mammals, royalty has a smell.<\/p>\n

The study was published in the journal Nature<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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