Let's hear it for the naked mole rat

Whenever we go the zoo, I have two animals I have to see — the elephants and the naked mole rats. My husband and son don't mind the elephants, but they think the naked mole rats are kinda creepy.

To me, they are the forgotten animal at the zoo and someone has to care. I admit, they are not as majestic as the elephants, nor do they command an audience like the various monkeys. There's just something about them that captures my attention.

The same goes for scientists at the University of Rochester, who have discovered that naked mole rats produce a unique compound that appears to block them from getting cancer.

The New York times has the story.

The photo attached to this story is the naked mole rats at the Oregon Zoo in Portland. I took it last June.

This story was originally published June 19, 2013 at 10:58 PM with the headline "Let's hear it for the naked mole rat."