ArticlePeerJ2020
The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it's complicated.
Article in PeerJ, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Allometric scaling and social modulation of resting metabolic rate in a eusocial mammal (Heterocephalus glaber).Biology open · 2026Article
- The Everlasting Ovary: Decoding the Mechanisms of Lifelong Oogenesis in the Naked Mole-Rat.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2026Review
- Quantitative and systematic behavioral profiling reveals social complexity in eusocial naked mole-rats.Science advances · 2025Article
- Metabolic expenditure of submaximal locomotion in naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) and Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis).The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- The evolution of division of labour: preconditions and evolutionary feedback.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Positive effect of a diggable substrate on the behaviour of a captive naked mole rat colony.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Extreme Physiology Extreme Tolerance to Hypoxia, Hypercapnia, and Pain in the Naked Mole-Rat.Journal of muscle research and cell motility · 2023Article
- Housing and Husbandry Alternatives for Naked Mole Rat Colonies Used in Research Settings.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2022Article
- The naked truth: a comprehensive clarification and classification of current 'myths' in naked mole-rat biology.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2022Review
- The Structure of the Spinal Cord Ependymal Region in Adult Humans Is a Distinctive Trait among Mammals.Cells · 2021Article
- Long bone histomorphogenesis of the naked mole-rat: Histodiversity and intraspecific variation.Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
- Eusociality and Senescence: Neuroprotection and Physiological Resilience to Aging in Insect and Mammalian Systems.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe naked mole-rat (
methodsTo assess the extent to which individual working behaviour is determined by sex, age, weight and social rank, we studied the behaviours of 103 animals from eight captive colonies. We performed focal sampling and ran mixed-effects models to assess which factors explained variation in working behaviour during six ten-minute observation periods per individual.
resultsContrary to widely-held beliefs, we found that working behaviour did not decrease linearly with weight, although polynomial regressions indicated younger and medium-sized individuals worked most frequently, while high-ranking individuals worked for the shortest periods of time. Working behaviour and its relationship with individual characteristics also varied between colonies.
conclusionsWhile age- or size-based polyethisms may have some influence on working behaviour, we argue that other characteristics of the individual and colony are also important. In particular, the interactions of individual, social and environmental factors must be considered in order to understand the emergence and effectiveness of the division of labour that is so critical to many social organisms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.