Balkan mole

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Balkan mole
Systematics
Order : Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family : Moles (Talpidae)
Subfamily : Old World Moles (Talpinae)
Tribe : Actual moles (Talpini)
Genre : Eurasian moles ( Talpa )
Type : Balkan mole
Scientific name
Talpa stankovici
V. Martino & E. Martino , 1931

The Balkan mole ( Talpa Stankovici ) is a mammal of the family of moles (Talpidae) within the order of insectivores (Eulipotyphla). It occurs in the western and southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and some offshore islands. There it inhabits different types of landscape from forests to open areas, both at sea level and in higher mountain areas. Outwardly, the animals resemble the much better known European mole , which they also resemble in size. But there are significant differences in size in the individual populations of the Balkan mole. Characteristic for the species are the eyes covered with skin, the robust teeth and some special tooth features. The way of life has not been adequately researched. Like other representatives of the Eurasian mole, the Balkan mole lives underground in self-dug tunnels and passages. It was introduced scientifically in 1931. For a long time it was considered a subspecies of the Roman mole . The Balkan mole has been listed as an independent species since the 1980s. Its stocks are not threatened.

features

Habitus

The Balkan mole reaches about the size of the European mole ( Talpa europaea ) and is smaller than the Roman mole ( Talpa romana ). Its head-trunk length is 12.1 to 14.3 cm, the tail length 2.7 to 4.2 cm. The weight varies between 61 and 96 g in males and 48 to 69 g in females. The former are around 20% heavier than the latter. The information relates to individuals from the forested mountain regions of North Macedonia ; those from the coastal regions of Montenegro are noticeably smaller with a weight of 35 to 51 g. Outwardly, the Balkan mole resembles other representatives of the Eurasian moles. Like these, it is characterized by a cylindrical and robust body, a short neck and shovel-like front feet. The body fur is tinted black, similar to the tail, only the feet stand out with a gray color. The eyes are like the Roman, but unlike the European mole, covered with a fold of skin. The rear foot becomes 1.7 to 1.9 cm long.

Skull and dentition features

The skull length of individuals from North Macedonia is on average 33.4 to 33.9 mm, the width at the brain skull is 16.7 to 17.2 mm. The rostrum is relatively wide, at the level of the molars it reaches about 10.4 to 10.5 mm in size. Corresponding values ​​for animals from Montenegro are 29.0 to 29.5 mm, 14.5 to 14.6 mm and 8.5 mm. Compared to the blind mole ( Talpa caeca ), the rostrum is shorter and taller. In addition, the rear edge of the infraorbital foramen is located above the second molar and thus somewhat advanced compared to the blind mole. The teeth 44 is composed of teeth with the following tooth formula : . In contrast to the Roman mole, there is hardly any evidence of oligodontics . The metaconid, a small hump that normally leans against the large main hump (protoconid) and occurs regularly in the blind mole, is often missing on the posterior lower premolar . On the upper first molar, the mesostyle, a small cusp between the two main cusps on the lip side (Paraconus and Metaconus), always has two points, similar to the Roman mole and different from the European mole. In general, the molars are built very robust, the upper row of teeth is between 11.5 and 13.6 mm long. This corresponds to 38.5 to 43.4% of the total skull length, which is significantly more than that of the European mole.

Genetic traits

The diploid chromosome set is 2n = 34. The X chromosome is medium-sized and metacentric, the Y chromosome is speckled. The karyotype is largely similar to that of the Roman mole, but the 14th chromosome pair is acrocentric and not sub-telecentric as in the latter.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area of ​​the Balkan mole

The Balkan mole occurs in south-eastern Europe . Its distribution area extends over the western and southern part of the Balkan Peninsula to the north of the Peloponnese . It thus includes Montenegro , North Macedonia , Albania and Greece . The northern border is reached at Ulcinj in Montenegro, Vermosh in Albania and the Šar Planina in North Macedonia. To the west, the Vardar River forms a natural barrier. The species is also found on the islands of Corfu and Kefalonia . The habitats used consist of arable and pasture land, high mountain meadows as well as roadsides and sand dunes, as well as forest areas with deciduous and coniferous trees . The altitude distribution ranges from sea level to around 2300 meters above sea level. In large parts of its distribution area, the Balkan mole occurs sympatricly with the blind mole , but both species are rarely found in the same place. In general, the former is more common than the latter. There is only marginal overlap with the distribution area of ​​the European mole .

Way of life

The Balkan mole often uses areas with hard soils, which are made up of bristle grass or blueberries . Like other Eurasian moles, it digs underground passages and tunnels, the entrances of which are indicated by characteristic ejection mounds ( molehills ). However, no information is available on further activities. According to studies of some of the stomach contents, the food consists of earthworms . The offspring are born in February and March, and lactating dams have been observed in April. Young animals weighing 30 g or more move through the corridors of the burrow. Mother animals carry between two and four embryos .

Systematics

Internal systematics of the Eurasian moles according to Demırtaş et al. 2020
 Talpa  


 Talpa altaica


   

 Talpa ognevi


   

 Talpa caucasica




   


 Talpa talyschensis


   

 Talpa davidiana



   

 Talpa caeca


   

 Talpa stankovici


   

 Talpa transcaucasica


   

 Talpa levantis



   

 Talpa romana


   

 Talpa martinorum


   


 Talpa occidentalis


   

 Talpa aquitania



   

 Talpa europaea





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The Balkan mole is a type from the genus of the Eurasian moles ( Talpa ). The genus is made up of around a dozen other members, the best known being the European mole ( Talpa europaea ). The Eurasian moles form part of the tribe of the real moles (Talpini) and the family of moles (Talpidae). The actual moles, in turn, comprise the mostly burrowing forms of the moles, while other members of the family only partially live underground, move above ground or have a semi-aquatic way of life.

The first scientific description of the Balkan mole comes from Vladimir Emmanuelovich Martino and Evgenia V. Martino in 1931. In this they introduced the new form as a subspecies of the Roman mole ( Talpa romana ) and named it Talpa romana stankovici . Both authors identified a male individual with a body length of 11.4 cm as the holotype , which they themselves had collected at the end of August 1928 on Mount Pelister in what is now North Macedonia at an altitude of around 1000 m. The region forms the type area of ​​the species. They saw the Balkan mole as a relic form of the Roman mole, which was only small in size due to its way of life in mountainous landscapes. The namesake is Siniša Stanković, a former scholar at the University of Belgrade who dealt with such relic faunas of the Balkan Peninsula.

The subspecies status of the Balkan mole remained largely intact for the next half century. In addition to the robust dentition, both share the caecoidal structure of the sacrum (the opening of the foramen on the fourth sacral vertebra is directed backwards), in contrast to the European mole with its europaeoidal design (the opening of the foramen on the fourth sacral vertebra is covered by a bone bridge). However, in the mid-1970s Boris Petrov suspected that the Balkan mole was an independent species. Ernesto Capanna then referred in 1981 to both karyological and morphometric differences in skull structure between the Balkan mole and the Roman mole and raised the former to the species level. This could be substantiated only a little later by analyzes of the allozymes of some European forms that did not reveal any direct relationship between the Roman and the Balkan mole. The independent species status of the Balkan mole was therefore mostly accepted in the following period. Molecular genetic studies at the beginning of the 21st century showed that the Balkan mole forms a common group with other European moles of the genus Talpa , which differs from a more eastern group. Within this western group, the Balkan mole together with the Levantine mole ( Talpa levantis ) occupies a basal position. The western group of Eurasian moles formed in the Pliocene around 3.8 million years ago, with the Balkan mole splitting off as a separate line around 3.15 million years ago.

As a rule, two subspecies of the Balkan mole are distinguished:

It is unclear to which subspecies the other populations of Albania and Greece belong. Genetic studies on animals from Greece yielded a total of two different clades . One is limited to the northern part of the Peloponnese , the other to northern and northwestern Greece. Both differ significantly in their genetic distance and are monophyletic . They could therefore form independent taxonomic units.

Threat and protection

The IUCN classifies the population of the Balkan mole as "not threatened" ( least concern ). However, there are no surveys on population size . Furthermore, the species has only been little studied and is spatially very limited. There are no known major threats to the entire population. The Balkan mole is found in several protected areas, for example in the Pelister National Park around the Pelister in North Macedonia .

literature

  • Boris Kryštufek and Masaharu Motokawa: Talpidae (Moles, Desmans, Star-nosed Moles and Shrew Moles). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths, Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 552–620 (p. 611) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Boris Kryštufek: Skull variability of Talpa romana stankovici from Macedonia. Acta Theriologica 32 (28), 1987, pp. 463-474
  2. ↑ a b c d e Boris Kryštufek: The taxonomy of blind moles (Talpa caeca and T. stankovici, Insectívora, Mammalia) from south-eastern Europe. Bonn Zoological Contributions 45 (1), 1994, pp. 1-16
  3. ↑ a b c d e Boris Kryštufek and Masaharu Motokawa: Talpidae (Moles, Desmans, Star-nosed Moles and Shrew Moles). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths, Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 552–620 (p. 611) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  4. ↑ a b c Ernesto Capanna: Caryotype et morphologie crânienne de Talpa romana Thomas de terra typica. Mammalia 45 (1), 1981, pp. 71-82
  5. ↑ E. Gornung, M. Volleth, E. Capanna and R. Castiglia: Comparative cytogenetics of moles (Eulipotyphla, Talpidae): chromosomal differences in Talpa romana and T. europaea. Cytogenetic Genome Research 121, 2008, pp. 249-254, doi: 10.1159 / 000138892
  6. ^ Ferdinand Bego, Boris Kryštufek, Gligor Paspali and Elton Rogozi: Small terrestrial mammals of Albania: Annotated list and distribution. Hystrix Italian Journal of Mammalogy 19 (2), 2008, pp. 3-21
  7. Jump up ↑ Ferdinand Bego, Enerit Saçdanaku, Michela Pacifici and Carlo Rondinini: Small terrestrial mammals of Albania: distribution and diversity (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Rodentia). ZooKeys 742, 2018, pp. 127-163
  8. ^ Boris Petrov: Some questions of the Zoogeographical division of Western Palaearctic in the light of the distribution of Mammals in Yugoslavia. Folia Zoologica 28, 1979, pp. 13-24 ( [1] )
  9. ↑ a b G. A. Tryfonopoulos, EG Thanou, SE Fraguedakis-Tsolis and BP Chondropoulos: New data on the distribution and genetic structure of Greek moles of the genus Talpa (Mammalia, Talpidae). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 48 (2), 2010, pp. 188-193, doi: 10.1111 / j.1439-0469.2009.00533.x
  10. ↑ Sadık Demırtaş, Metin Silsüpür, Jeremy B. Searle, David Bilton and İslam Gündüz: What should we call the Levant mole? Unraveling the systematics and demography of Talpa levantis Thomas, 1906 sensu lato (Mammalia: Talpidae). Mammalian Biology 100, 2020, pp. 1-18, doi: 10.1007 / s42991-020-00010-4
  11. ↑ a b Kai He, Akio Shinohara, Kristofer M. Helgen, Mark S. Springer, Xue-Long Jiang and Kevin L. Campbell: Talpid Mole Phylogeny Unites Shrew Moles and Illuminates Overlooked Cryptic Species Diversity. Molecular Biology and Evolution 34 (1), 2016, pp. 78-87
  12. ↑ Vladimir Emmanuelovich Martino and Evgenia V. Martino: A New Form of Mole from Jugoslavia. Journal of Mammalogy 12 (1), 1931, p. 53
  13. ^ Maria Grazia Filippucci, Giuseppe Nascetti, Ernesto Capanna and Luciano Bullini: Allozyme Variation and Systematics of European Moles of the Genus Talpa (Mammalia, Insectivora). Journal of Mammalogy 68 (3), 1987, pp. 487-499
  14. ↑ P. Colangelo, AA Bannikova, B. Kryštufek, VS Lebedev, F. Annesi, E. Capanna and A. Loy: Molecular systematics and evolutionary biogeography of the genus Talpa (Soricomorpha: Talpidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55, 2010, pp. 372-380
  15. ↑ Anna A. Bannikova, Elena D. Zemlemerova, Paolo Colangelo, Mustafa Sözen, M. Sevindik, Artem A. Kidov, Ruslan I. Dzuev, Boris Kryštufek and Vladimir S. Lebedev: An underground burst of diversity - a new look at the phylogeny and taxonomy of the genus Talpa Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia: Talpidae) as revealed by nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175, 2015, pp. 930-948
  16. ↑ Vladimir Vohralík and Boris Kryštufek: Talpa stankovici. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016. e.T41485A2953771 ( [2] ); last accessed on May 19, 2020

Web links

Commons : Talpa stankovici  - collection of images, videos and audio files