Sensory systems underlying sociality in the naked mole-rat

Social interactions rely on the integration of information across multiple sensory modalities. In many species, individuals recognize conspecifics through combinations of auditory, olfactory, tactile, and visual cues, reflecting the capacity of neural systems to integrate diverse streams of sensory input. The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) provides a powerful model system for understanding how social living shapes the evolution of such communication systems, particularly under conditions where visual information is largely absent. Naked mole-rats represent a rare example of mammalian eusociality, living in large multigenerational colonies organized around a strict reproductive hierarchy and cooperative care of offspring [1]. Here, we review evidence that naked mole-rats integrate multiple sensory modalities, focusing on audition, olfaction, and somatosensation to encode social identity.