The hotheaded naked ice borer is a fictional rodent species from Antarctica, originally featured as an April Fool's Day joke on the Discover magazine in 1995. According to the article, this species was discovered by an explorer named Aprile Pazzo.
Biology[]
Hotheaded naked ice borers are small, fossorial predators which hunt large prey in groups. They physically resemble the naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) but have a distinctive cranial projection with a high concentration of blood vessels which emanate heat, allowing them to move under the Antarctic ice by melting it. Their body length is about 6 inches (15.24 cm). They ambush large prey from below and melt the ice underneath the prey, causing it to fall right into the voracious jaws of the ice borers. Their average body temperature is 110 °F (~ 43.33 °C).
Notes[]
- Ironically, the naked mole rat which served as inspiration for this species is famous for being one of the only known cases of a cold-blooded mammal.