Ugly duckling mole rats might hold key to longevity

Image courtesy of the BBCWhat good is longevity if you end up looking like this? WUSTL biologist Stan Braude, working on a book about the critters, says the naked mole rat is being studied for its tendency to live a long life.Who would have thought that the secrets to long life might exist in the naked, wrinkled body of one of the world’s ugliest animals? Probably not many, but current research may be leading seekers of the Fountain of Youth to a strange little beast — the naked mole rat.