Mole rats make their naked debut at Brookfield Zoo

It's a face only a mother could love.

Twelve naked mole-rats were born recently at Brookfield Zoo and while they may not be the most attractive specimens to humans - to their mothers, the tykes are more than just bundles of joy.

They're also going to be productive worker mole-rats at the venerable age of 3 months.

Similar to ants, naked mole-rat colonies are ruled by queens. The queen's only purpose is to give birth while the 20 to 30 other mole-rats that live in the colony's burrow do the rest of the work, zoo keepers said.

This is the first time since November 2006 that Brookfield has had a successful mole-rat litter.

The pups were born June 15 and June 27 to two separate mothers. Native to Africa, they're part of the zoo's The Fragile Desert exhibit.

After two weeks, the young mole-rats will start eating solid food, and by fall, they'll be ready to start work for the colony.

And if you were making any assumptions about the species based on their name, don't read too much into it, experts explain. Mole-rats are rodents but they are neither moles nor rats. As for the naked part? Actually, they're covered in fine hair.