Desert gold mole

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Desert gold mole
Desert gold mole (Eremitalpa granti)

Desert gold mole ( Eremitalpa granti )

Systematics
Superordinate : Afrotheria
without rank: Afroinsectiphilia
Order : Tenrecus (Afrosoricida)
Family : Gold mole (Chrysochloridae)
Genre : Eremitalpa
Type : Desert gold mole
Scientific name of the  genus
Eremitalpa
Roberts , 1924
Scientific name of the  species
Eremitalpa granti
( Broom , 1907)

The desert gold mole ( Eremitalpa granti ), also called Grant's gold mole , is a species of mammal from the family of the gold mole (Chrysochloridae). It is endemic to Africa and inhabits the west coast of South Africa as well as the southern and western coastal area of Namibia . Its habitat are dry areas and deserts, in the latter case especially the sand dunes of the Namib . As with all gold molluscs, the physique is adapted to a digging way of life. The front limbs are transformed into strong and particularly wide grave claws, in contrast to most other members of the golden mole, the desert golden mole has a well-developed outer, fourth claw on the front paws in addition to the three inner claws. The body is diamond-shaped, an externally visible tail and auricles are missing, the eyes are covered with fur and the snout has a leather-like padding. The small body size is also striking, making the desert gold mole one of the smallest members of its family.

The way of life of the golden mole rat has been studied comparatively well. It lives underground, but does not create permanent corridors due to the sandy subsoil. Since these collapse directly behind the burrowing animal, the golden mole "swims" in the sand just below the surface of the earth, which is why it is also known colloquially as a dune shark . To search for food, the animals go to the surface of the earth, they only dive into the sand in the immediate vicinity of their prey. The tracking of food and the orientation in the landscape is done by vibrations that are perceived with the help of enlarged ear bones. In addition to termites and numerous other invertebrates, the diet also includes reptiles such as skinks . The golden mole rat is predominantly nocturnal and uses the protective roots of plants as resting places during the day. It lives solitary and is territorial, the size of the territory fluctuates depending on the yield of the populated landscape. Much of the behavioral repertoire of the desert gold mole is related to efficient energy savings in the barren desert regions with widely dispersed food resources.

The species was introduced in 1907. A total of two subspecies are known. The stock is not considered to be threatened, local hazards arise from diamond mining in the coastal alluvial sands, from agriculture and tourism.

features

Habitus

With a head-to-trunk length of 7.6 to 8.5 cm and a body weight of 15 to 30 g, the desert gold mole is one of the smallest representatives of the gold mole. There is a slight sexual dimorphism with males and smaller females on average. As with all gold moles , the body of the desert gold mole is similar to, but not related to, the moles . It has adaptations to a digging way of life, which is expressed among other things by the diamond-shaped body with externally invisible ears and tail. The fur is silky and appears yellow-brown-olive to grayish-yellow on the back. Under certain lighting conditions it has a silvery metallic sheen. It brightens towards the sides and is interspersed with an intense shade of yellow. The hair is 7 to 12 mm in length and up to 20 mm on the flanks. Guide hairs have a gray base, turn pale brownish-yellow in the upper third and end in a dark brown tip. The underside of the animals is generally grayish-brown to fawn-brown. The forehead and cheeks are pale yellow. The eyes remain hidden under the fur. A leathery padding is formed on the nose, which protects the nostrils and is used when digging. There are sometimes pale pink tones around the nose pad. The limbs are strongly built, they run into four-pointed hands at the front and five-pointed feet with strong claws at the back. The claws of the forelegs are transformed into grave claws, as with the other gold mole, but these have a much wider structure compared to the other family representatives. The central claw (ray III) is most strongly developed, its length is 9 to 12 mm, the basal width 3.7 to 4.9 mm. In contrast, the claws of the two inner fingers become shorter, but with a length of 5 to 8 mm (beam II) and 4 to 5 mm (beam I), they are almost the same length. In contrast to all other gold molluscs, the claw of the outer, fourth ray is well developed, it is 3 to 4 mm long and 2 to 3 mm wide, which makes it look like a spatula. There is a thickened pad on the rear foot, which is 9 to 12 mm long.

Skull and dentition features

The skull measures 18.6 to 20.4 mm in length and 15.5 to 18.2 mm in width. It is noticeably short and wide, the greatest width varies between 80 and 96% of the greatest length, which is the highest value within the gold mole. The rostrum is also very wide with a palate width of 35 to 38% of the greatest length of the skull. Overall it is clearly short, the prominent bulges of the forehead line are missing on the front skull, as they occur in the representatives of Cryptochloris . The zygomatic arches are closed, there are no broad, backward-pointing plates like those of the giant gold mole ( Chrysospalax ). What is noticeable is the spherical, inflated head of the hammer in the middle ear , which is extremely large and weighs an average of 52 to a maximum of 70 mg. In addition, the bone density is extremely high at 2.44 g / cm³, the value is one of the highest for terrestrial mammals. In contrast to the giant gold mole , which has a comparable inflated hammer head, or the cape gold mole ( Chrysochloris ) with its club-like elongated malleus head In the case of the desert gold mole, this is not in a bony bulge that is externally visible on the temporal pit , which may also cause the high bone density. The dentition consists of 40 teeth with the following dental formula together: . The rearmost molar is small, but like the anterior molars, it is characterized by a tricuspid chewing surface pattern. Its expression varies depending on the half of the jaw. The lower molars do not have a talonid (a deep protrusion of the chewing surface into which one of the main cusps of the upper molars grips when the dentition closes). The construction of the last premolar resembles the posterior molars, i.e. it is molar-shaped . The length of the upper row of teeth from the canine to the last molar is 5.2 to 5.7 mm.

distribution

Distribution area (green) of the desert gold mole

The desert gold mole is endemic to Africa . There it occurs in a narrow strip along the southwest coast, for example from St. Helena Bay in the South African province of Western Cape north to Walvis Bay in Namibia . The distribution area extends over an area of ​​152,000 km². Within this, the type of a total of seven localities is known, the total area of ​​which is 112 km². The animals inhabit the dry areas of the Strandveld , the Succulent Karoo and the Namib . They prefer very loose subsoil, such as the wandering sands of dunes , but they also occur in the depressions between the dunes, some of which are denser with vegetation. However, the subsurface must not be too solidified there. The gold mole is often found in areas with scattered tufts of sweet grass, such as the species Aristida sabulicola , Cladoraphis spinosa and Stipagrostis ciliata . The population density is very low; in a study area on the Kuiseb River south of the Gobabeb research station in the Namib, it fluctuated between 0.22 and 0.014 individuals per hectare over a documented twelve-year period (1984 and 1996) . This considerable variation over time is likely to be related to the local and seasonal amount of precipitation in the desert-like landscapes and, consequently, to the food supply and plant growth. In the study phase of the 1980s, the region around Gobabeb was, on average, more humid than during the observations a decade later.

Way of life

Territorial behavior and energy balance

Compared to the other gold mole, the way of life of the desert gold mole is relatively well researched. It is characterized by some special adaptations to the extremely hostile environment of the deserts . The desert gold mole is primarily nocturnal, but the activities depend on the ambient temperature, which in summer reach 30 to 45 ° C near the ground, while in winter it is 8 to 10 ° C. Field studies and observations under laboratory conditions show that the golden mole rat has its highest activities at ambient temperatures of 16 to 32 ° C, on average 25 ° C. In winter, the main activity takes place in the warmer night phase between sunset and midnight, in summer it extends until the following sunrise. During this time of year, especially between November and February, the animals can also be observed more frequently during the day, as they spend up to a quarter of their time budget in daylight. The body temperature at rest varies extremely between 13.2 and 36.8 ° C, it largely corresponds to the daily course of the ambient temperature. It is on average higher in summer than in winter (29.7 and 21.1 ° C). In the sandy subsoil, the body temperature is on average around 0.7 ° C above that of the surroundings, which is why the desert gold mole retreats further into the subsoil at cooler temperatures. The thermal conductivity of the body is accordingly high, its own thermoregulation is only weakly developed, which supports adaptive hypothermia . In addition, there is a low metabolic rate of only 20% compared to a similarly sized insectivorous animal. Overall, these properties, the thermolability and the low metabolic rate, lead to energy savings. At ambient temperatures of less than 15 ° C, the gold mole falls into a torpor , which reduces further energy costs.

The golden mole rat is largely solitary and territorial, particularly aggressive behavior towards other species has not yet been determined. The individual animals maintain activity areas , which according to field observations south of the Gobabeb research station in the Namib are on average 4.6  hectares in size. Males, with 3.1 to 12.3 ha areas, have significantly more extensive action areas than females, which in comparison only occupy an area of ​​1.8 to 4.6 ha. The territories are relatively stable and are held for a longer period of time, in the case of a female this was at least two years. At the edges they can overlap to a certain extent with neighboring districts. The animals cover daily distances within the action areas, the lengths of which - analogous to the population density already mentioned - depend on the yield of a region. In the study region near Gobabeb, daily migrations of an average of 290 and a maximum of 695 m were observed in the 1980s. In the 1990s the values ​​were 1412 and 2300 m. The longest observed path in the same region was around 5800 m. In the analyzes on the Die Diurne farm in the NamibRand nature reserve around 120 km south of Gobabeb, however, significantly smaller individual action areas were found, the average size of which was 0.16 ha and fluctuated between 0.05 and 0.56 ha in absolute terms. The daily distances traveled by the animals were also significantly shorter, the average value was 13 m, the upper maximum was 82 m. The striking differences between Gobabeb and the Die Diurne farm can be traced back to the slightly more humid conditions on average with a resulting higher food supply at the latter investigation site, another influencing factor may be the limited observation period in the cool winter.

Like all gold mole, the desert gold mole digs underground, its broad grave claws are a special adaptation to loose substrates such as dune sands. Digging in such a soft underground means that the tunnels are not stable, but collapse directly behind the burrowing animal, giving the impression of locomotion "floating in the sand". The colloquial term dune shark ( English " dune shark ") goes back to this fact . The digging speed is up to 35 m per hour, but it slows down with decreasing temperatures. Since the desert gold mole digs mostly close to the surface, it leaves a trace of U-shaped furrows in the sand, only when it is a little wetter do more stable ripples arise. The sand is loose enough that the air circulation is only slightly less than in the free earth atmosphere , so that the animals have enough air to breathe. The golden mole often spends the day resting in the area of ​​plant roots, sometimes up to 50 cm deep. Fixed chambers or nests do not exist. Resting places or paths that have been used once are only rarely selected again, with Gobabeb this only happened in three cases out of 389 observations during the 1980s. There are exceptions to the rearing of offspring. In contrast to numerous other representatives of the gold mole, the desert gold mole spends a larger part of its daily budget on the surface of the earth; the broad pads on its hind feet support its progress in the sand. The energetic costs of digging underground are up to 27 times higher than moving on the earth's surface. In contrast, the food resources available in the desert-like landscape are widely scattered, so less frequent digging also reduces energy consumption. On the other hand, the scarce food supply also severely limits extensive excavation activities.

nutrition

The golden mole rat feeds mainly on insects, it is extremely selective and highly specialized. The consumption of crickets and spiders was observed, as well as that of the meal beetle larvae and other black beetles such as Onymacris laeviceps . On river banks, the golden mole can be found on piles of dung , where it looks for giant beetles , of which it only eats the abdomen . Smaller vertebrates have also been identified as prey, including legless skinks and the Namib gecko . The analysis of 16 stomach contents from Gobabeb showed a proportion of 97.5% termites . Representatives of the genus Psammotermes dominated among these . The high percentage of termites is interesting because they only make up 0.2% of the biomass in the region, but occur more frequently due to their social structure. The rest of the stomach contents consisted of insect larvae , beetles , ants , orb-web spiders and shaggy tails . In addition to the invertebrates , remains of skinks were also found to a lesser extent, but their capture was more likely to take place by chance, just as certain parts of the plant are to be regarded as "bycatch". The fluid requirement is completely covered by food, beetles, for example, have a water content of 50%, with insect larvae the value is up to 68%. In addition, the fat content of termites is relatively high. As a special adaptation to the very dry environmental conditions, the kidneys produce highly concentrated urine to save water, so that only about 11% of the water is lost via the urinary tract (compared to up to 34% in insectivorous animals living in Mesian landscapes). In addition to the low metabolic rate, life underground also reduces greater water loss through the body surface.

The foraging takes place mainly above ground. The animals move in relatively straight lines between various smaller sand hills that have been blown onto groups of plants and where the prey is often concentrated. At regular intervals of 3 to 5 m they stick their heads in the sand, with which they possibly locate seismic signals, which the blind animals use to determine the direction to the sand heaps. Such signals can be noise fluctuations between sand plains and hills caused by wind, which are useful for overcoming larger distances of 20 to 25 m between the individual hills, or vibrations caused by the prey animals in the immediate vicinity of the sand heaps. The search for prey is therefore not arbitrary, but rather targeted. The greatly inflated and compressed head of the hammer in the middle ear enables the desert gold mole to locate such fine frequency differences . According to studies, he can use it to perceive frequencies between 48 and 300  Hz , the upper limit according to the analyzes is 5.9 kHz. The animals only begin to dig for the prey immediately at the plant groups. The distances covered under the earth's surface in this way are therefore rather short (16 to 27 m) and only take up a few percent to a maximum of a third of the total distance covered when searching for food. They are longer, the richer the food supply is (for Gobabeb in the 1980s an average of 14% of the total daily distance traveled, compared to an average of 1.1% in the 1990s).

Reproduction

On the whole, only a few data are available on reproduction. The embryonic largely corresponds to the other Higher mammals , but shows some primitive features. Pregnant females have so far been observed in October and November; two individuals in October only carried one embryo each. Otherwise a litter consists of one or two boys.

Predators and parasites

The most important predators are the barn owl and the Fleckenuhu . For the latter, the desert gold mole represents the second most important prey among the mammals according to the investigation of tarns at Sossusvlei with an individual proportion of almost a quarter and a biomass proportion of around 16%. For the former, the corresponding values ​​for the region around Gobabeb are around one tenth and 14 %. Birds of prey that chase the golden mole during the day include the tortoiseshell and the white hawk ( Melierax canorus ). The small-blotched genet and the black-backed jackal are known to follow the paths of the golden mole rat and possibly dig up individual animals. As an internal parasite are acanthocephala from the family of Oligacanthorhynchidae occupied.

Systematics

Internal systematics of the gold mole according to Asher et al. 2010
 Chrysochloridae  




 Eremitalpa granti


   

 Huetia leucorhina


   

 Cryptochloris wintoni


   

 Chrysochloris asiatica


   

 Chrysochloris stuhlmanni






   

 Chrysospalax trevelyani


   

 Chrysospalax villosus




   

 Calcochloris obtusirostris



   

 Chlorotalpa duthieae


   

 Chlorotalpa sclateri



   


 Carpitalpa arendsi


   

 Neamblysomus gunningi


   

 Neamblysomus julianae




   

 Amblysomus corriae


   

 Amblysomus hottentotus


   

 Amblysomus marleyi


   

 Amblysomus robustus


   

 Amblysomus septentrionalis


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The desert gold mole is a genus from the family of the gold mole (Chrysochloridae) and the superordinate order of the Afrotheria . The golden mole comprise smaller, soil-digging mammals with an endemic distribution in Africa . They occur mainly in the southern part of the continent, but a few species also inhabit the central and eastern parts. The closest relatives are the Tenreks (Tenrecidae), which are also common in Africa . Both families together form the order of the Afrosoricida . According to molecular genetic studies, the separation of the gold mole and the tenreks took place relatively early, in the transition from the Upper Cretaceous to the Paleocene around 65 million years ago. From the Oligocene around 28.5 million years ago, the gold mole began to diversify more strongly.

Due to their subterranean way of life, the individual species and populations of the golden mole represent habitat specialists ; with a few exceptions, their occurrence is clearly limited locally. Two ecological groups can be distinguished within the family. One group consists of species with a specialization in dry to partly semi-desert regions, such as the desert gold mole , some members of the cape gold mole ( Chrysochloris ) and the species of the genus Cryptochloris . The second group consists of representatives of the open grass and savannah landscapes as well as the forests, for example the copper gold mulle ( Amblysomus ), Arends' gold mole ( Carpitalpa ), the giant gold mole ( Chrysospalax ) or the species of the genus Neamblysomus . The internal structure of the family has not yet been conclusively clarified. For anatomical considerations, the design of the hammer in the middle ear is divided into two or three subfamilies: the Amblysominae with a normally built malleus, the Chrysochlorinae with a greatly elongated head of the malleus and the Eremitalpinae with a spherically inflated head of the malleus. Other scientists combine the latter two into a subfamily, the Chrysochlorinae. This subdivision of the gold mole based on skeletal anatomical differences is not fully supported by molecular genetics. As a result, the desert gullet forms a common group with the Cape gulls and the genera Huetia and Cryptochloris , with all forms except Huetia having an enlarged head of the malleus and thus belonging to the Chrysochlorinae. The spherical inflated head of the hammer in the desert gold mole supports anatomically a close relationship with the giant gold mole ( Chrysospalax ), which have a similar feature. Both together form the subfamily of the Eremitalpinae according to this division method.

There are two known subspecies of the golden mole rat:

  • E. g. granti ( Broom , 1907); from St. Helena Bay in the South African province of Western Cape northwards along the coast to Port Nolloth in the province of Northern Cape and inland to Garies ; larger shape with less yellowish coat coloration, hair with 8 to 13 mm in the middle of the back significantly longer, skull longer (18.6 to 20.4 mm) and narrower (width 79.9 to 88.3% of the greatest skull length);
  • E. g. namibensis Bauer & Niethammer , 1959; from the Oranje River northwards along the coast to Walvis Bay in Namibia and inland to ProNamib; smaller shape with an intense, yellowish tinge, hair with 6.5 to 7 mm in the middle of the back significantly shorter, skull shorter (16.8 to 19.4 mm) and wider (width 85.3 to 95.7% of the greatest skull length) ;

Recent studies of molecular and cytogenetics as well as morphological characteristics indicate that the two subspecies may represent separate species.

Robert Broom

The first description of the desert gold mole was presented by Robert Broom in 1907. Broom used the scientific species name Chrysochloris granti and thus placed the new species close to the Cape Gold Mulle. For his first description, he used four skulls from Garies in Namaqualand and an additional individual in alcohol , 8.2 cm in length from the South African Museum in Cape Town , which, however, had no evidence of origin or history. Broom himself had collected the skulls from Garies in 1898 from the bulges of owls , the region is considered a type locality of the desert gold mole. The epithet granti devoted Broom Captain Claude HB Grant , a British ornithologist and honorary member of the former Zoological Department of the British Museum , who had rendered outstanding services for the South African mammal world. The subspecies E. g. namibensis was introduced in 1959 by Kurt Bauer and Jochen Niethammer . It was also based on skulls - around 100 in total - from owl wool from Sossusvlei in Namibia, which had been recovered at the beginning of the same year during an expedition by Günther Niethammer to southwestern Africa. Another subspecies, E. g. cana , created by Broom in 1950, based on four individuals from Lamberts Bay around 190 km south of Garies in the Western Cape Province. In addition to the grayish coat color, the animals showed individual differences in the construction of their hands and teeth, but the shape was developed in 1964 by Jurgens AJ Meester with E. g. granti synonymized . Although Alberto M. Simonetta led the subspecies again for a short time in 1968, it is not recognized as independent in more recent systematics.

In their first description of E. g. namibensis , Bauer and Niethammer speculated whether this new subspecies might be identical to Chrysochloris damarensis , a form that William Ogilby introduced in 1838 using an animal from the former Damaraland in what is now Namibia . Ogilby described Chrysochloris damarensis as brown with a silver sheen and whitish spots around the eyes, on the lips and on the chin. However, apart from Damaraland, he did not give an exact find position; no other similar animals were spotted in the period that followed. Since Bauer and Niethammer had only skull material and no fur remnants available, the external appearance of E. g. namibensis initially unknown. At the beginning of the 1960s, the first living specimens of E. g. namibensis , and Jurgens Meester found the type specimen of Chrysochloris damarensis in the Natural History Museum in London. This enabled him to show that both forms are not identical, but that the latter can be clearly assigned to the cape gold mullets. Since the Cape Gold Mulle do not occur in Namibia, it is now assumed that the information about the find region may be incorrect.

The generic name Eremitalpa , which is valid today, comes from Austin Roberts from 1924. With it, Roberts separated the shapes with an extraordinarily wide skull, 40 teeth in the dentition and a well-developed fourth toe with a clear claw from the other gold mullets, and he also lifted the long, silky one Fur. He was the only member to recognize the desert gold mole. The name Eremitalpa is derived from the Greek word ἐρημίτης ( eremítēs "desert inhabitants"; from ἔρημος ( érēmos ) for "desert" or "wasteland") and the scientific name Talpa for the mole .

Hazard and protection

The main threat to the existence of the desert gold mole is the mining of diamonds in the coastal sands of the South African province of North Cape and in the Namibian diamond restricted area , which leads to significant changes in the landscape and to the fragmentation of habitats at some sites. However, the IUCN sees this as a regional or local problem. In addition, the development of the coastal region from St. Helena Bay to Lamberts Bay for tourism and agricultural use of the coast and valleys in the hinterland of Namaqualand also affects individual habitats . The majority of the distribution area of ​​the desert gold mole, however, includes barren landscapes and deserts that are rarely inhabited by humans, and the species is also adaptable to moderate landscape transformations. A sharp decline in population is therefore not assumed; the desert gold mole may also be more widespread than the current data suggests. The IUCN therefore classifies the species as “not endangered” ( least concern ). It is represented in several nature reserves such as the Namaqua National Park in South Africa or the Namib Skeleton Coast National Park in Namibia.

literature

  • Gary N. Bronner: Genus Eremitalpa Grant's Golden-mole. In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume I. Introductory Chapters and Afrotheria. Bloomsbury, London 2013, pp. 252-254.
  • Gary N. Bronner and Nigel C. Bennett: Genus Eremitalpa Roberts, 1924. In: John D. Skinner and Christian T. Chimimba (Eds.): The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005, pp. 8-9.
  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
  • Michael R. Perrin and Laura J. Fielden: Eremitalpa granti. Mammalian Species 629, 1999, pp. 1-4.
  • William A. Taylor, Samantha Mynhardt and Sarita Maree: Chrysochloridae (Golden moles). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 180–203 (pp. 202–203) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert Broom: Some new and some rare Golden moles. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 20, 1946, pp. 329-335
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Michael R. Perrin and Laura J. Fielden: Eremitalpa granti. Mammalian Species 629, 1999, pp. 1-4
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gary N. Bronner and Nigel C. Bennett: Genus Eremitalpa Roberts, 1924. In: John D. Skinner and Christian T. Chimimba (eds.): The Mammals of the Southern African subregion. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 8-9
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gary N. Bronner: Genus Eremitalpa Grant's Golden-mole. In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume I. Introductory Chapters and Afrotheria. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, pp. 252-254
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h William A. Taylor, Samantha Mynhardt and Sarita Maree: Chrysochloridae (Golden moles). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 180–203 (pp. 202–203) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  6. ^ A b Matthew J. Mason, Sarah J. Lucas, Erica R. Wise, Robin S. Stein and Melinda J. Duer: Ossicular density in golden moles (Chrysochloridae). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 192, 2006, pp. 1349-1357
  7. ↑ a b c d e f R. S. Seymour, PC Withers and WW Weathers: Energetics of burrowing, running, and free-living in the Namib Desert golden mole (Eremitalpa namibensis). Journal of Zoology 244, 1998, pp. 107-117
  8. ↑ a b c d e E. Holm: Contribution to the knowledge of the biology of the Namib desert golden mole Eremitalpa granti namibensis Bauer & Niethammer 1959. Scientific Papers of the Namib Desert Research Station 41, 1969, pp. 37-42
  9. ↑ a b c Laura J. Fielden, GC Hickman and Michael R. Perrin: Locomotory activity in the Namib Desert golden mole Eremitalpa granti namibensis (Chrysochloridae). Journal of Zoology 226, 1992, pp. 329-344
  10. ^ A b Laura J. Fielden, Michael R. Perrin and GC Hickman: Water metabolism in the Namib desert golden mole, Eremitalpa granti namibiensis (Chrysochloridae. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 96A (1), 1990, pp. 227-234
  11. ↑ Laura J. Fielden, JP Waggoner, Michael R. Perrin and GC Hickman: Thermoregulation in the Namib Desert golden mole, Eremitalpa granti namibensis (Chrysochloridae). Journal of Arid Environments 18, 1990, pp. 221-237
  12. ↑ a b Laura J. Fielden: Home range and movements of the Namib Desert golden mole, Eremitalpa granti namibensis (Chrysochloridae). Journal of Zoology 223, 1991, pp. 675-686
  13. ^ Galen B. Rathbun and Carolyn D. Rathbun: Habitat use by radio-tagged Namib Desert golden moles (Eremitalpa granti namibensis). African Journal of Ecology 45, 2006, pp. 196-201
  14. ↑ JP Gasc, FK Jouffroy and S. Renous: Morphofunctional study of the digging system of the Namib Desert Golden mole (Eremitalpa granti namibensis): cineflourographical and anatomical analysis. Journal of Zoology 208, 1986, pp. 9-35
  15. ↑ Martin Pickford: Late Eocene Chrysochloridae (Mammalia) from the Sperrgebiet, Namibia. Communications of the Geological Survey of Namibia 16, 2015, pp. 153–193 (p. 178)
  16. ^ Galen B. Rathbun and Lynn Rathbun: Radio-tracking Namib Desert golden moles. Afrotherian Conservation 4, 2006, p. 5
  17. ^ Robert J. Asher and D. Margaret Avery: New Golden Moles (Afrotheria, Chrysochloridae) from the Early Pliocene of South Africa. Palaeontologia Electronica 13 (1), 3A, 2010 ( [1] )
  18. ^ Roger S. Seymour and Mary K. Seely: The respiratory environment of the Namib Desert Golden Mole. Journal of Arid Environments 32, 1996, pp. 453-461
  19. ↑ Laura J. Fielden, Michael R. Perrin and GC Hickman: Feeding ecology and foraging behavior of the Namib Desert golden mole, Eremitalpa granti namibensis (Chrysochloridae). Journal of Zoology 220, 1990, pp. 367-389
  20. ↑ Peter M. Narins, Edwin R. Lewis, Jennifer UM Jarvis and Justin O'Riain: The Use of Seismic Signals by Fossorial Southern African Mammals: A Neuroethological Gold Mine. Brain Research Bulletin 44 (5), 1997, pp. 641-646
  21. ↑ Edwin R. Lewis, Peter M. Narins, Jennifer UM Jarvis, Gary Bronner and Matthew J. Mason: Preliminary evidence for the use of microseismic cues for navigation by the Namib golden mole. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 119 (2), 2006, pp. 1260-1268
  22. ^ Matthew J. Mason and Peter M. Narins: Seismic sensitivity in the Desert golden mole (Eremitalpa granti): A review. Journal of Comparative Psychology 116 (2), 2002, pp. 258-263
  23. ^ Matthew J. Mason: Bone conduction and seismic sensitivity in golden moles (Chrysochloridae). Journal of Zoology 260, 2003, pp. 405-413
  24. ^ Matthew J. Mason: Functional Morphology of the Middle Ear in Chlorotalpa Golden Moles (Mammalia, Chrysochloridae): Predictions From Three Models. Journal of Morphology 261, 2004, pp. 162-174
  25. ↑ V. Gabie: The early embryology of Eremitalpa granti (Broom). Journal of Morphology 104, 1959, pp. 181-204
  26. ↑ V. Gabie: The placentation of Eremitalpa granti (Broom). Journal of Morphology 107, 1960, pp. 61-78
  27. ↑ JAJ Nel: The prey of owls in the Namib Desert 1: The Spotted eagle owl Bubo africanus at Sossus Vlei. Scientific Papers of the Namib Desert Research Station 43, 1969, pp. 55-58
  28. ↑ Ronald L. Tilson and Peter LeRoux: Resource prtitioning in coexisting Namib Desert owls, Bubo africanus and Tyto alba. Madoqua 13 (3), 1983, pp. 221-227
  29. ^ A b Robert J Asher, Sarita Maree, Gary Bronner, Nigel C Bennett, Paulette Bloomer, Paul Czechowski, Matthias Meyer and Michael Hofreiter: A phylogenetic estimate for golden moles (Mammalia, Afrotheria, Chrysochloridae). MC Evolutionary Biology 10, 2010, p. 69 doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2148-10-69
  30. Jump up ↑ Robert W. Meredith, Jan E. Janečka, John Gatesy, Oliver A. Ryder, Colleen A. Fisher, Emma C. Teeling, Alisha Goodbla, Eduardo Eizirik, Taiz LL Simão, Tanja Stadler, Daniel L. Rabosky, Rodney L. Honeycutt, John J. Flynn, Colleen M. Ingram, Cynthia Steiner, Tiffani L. Williams, Terence J. Robinson, Angela Burk-Herrick, Michael Westerman, Nadia A. Ayoub, Mark S. Springer, and William J. Murphy: Impacts of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution and KPg Extinction on Mammal Diversification. Science 334, 2011, pp. 521-524
  31. ↑ C. Gilbert, PC O'Brien, G. Bronner, F. Yang, A. Hassanin, MA Ferguson-Smith and TJ Robinson: Chromosome painting and molecular dating indicate a low rate of chromosomal evolution in golden moles (Mammalia, Chrysochloridae) . Chromosome Research 14, 2006, pp. 793-803
  32. ^ Gary N. Bronner: Order Afrosoricida Tenrecs, Otter-Shrews, Golden-moles. In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume I. Introductory Chapters and Afrotheria. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, pp. 214-215
  33. ^ A b Alberto M. Simonetta: A new golden mole from Somalia with an appendix on the taxonomy of the family Chrysochloridae (Mammalia, Insectivora). Monitore Zoologico Italiano NS Supplement 2, 1968, pp. 27-55
  34. ^ Gary N. Bronner: Family Chrysochloridae Golden-moles. In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume I. Introductory Chapters and Afrotheria. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, pp. 223-225
  35. ↑ a b c Jurgens Meester: Revision of the Chrysochloridae I. The Desert golden mole Eremitalpa. Scientific Papers of the Namib Desert Research Station 26, 1964, pp. 1-8
  36. ^ A b S. Maree: Eremitalpa granti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015. e.T7994A21283661 ( [2] ); last accessed on April 16, 2016
  37. ^ Gary Bronner: An imminent updated (2017) taxonomy for golden moles. Afrotherian Conservation 14, 2018, pp. 57–59
  38. ^ Galen B. Rathbun: Eponyms in the Afrotheria: Who were the people that had Afrotheria species named after them? Afrotherian Conservation 9, 2012, pp. 5-6
  39. ^ Robert Broom: On some new species of Chrysochloris. The Annals and magazine of natural history 7 (19), 1907, pp. 262–268 ( [3] )
  40. ^ Robert Broom: A contribution to the knowledge of the cape golden moles. Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society 18, 1907, pp. 283-311 ( [4] )
  41. ↑ a b Kurt Bauer and Jochen Niethammer: About a small amount of mammals from Southwest Africa. Bonn zoological contributions 10 (3/4), 1959, pp. 236–260
  42. ^ Robert Broom: Some further advances in our knowledge of the Cape golden moles. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 21, 1950, pp. 234-241
  43. ^ William Ogilby: On a collection of Mammalia procured by Captain Alexander during his journey into the country of the Damaras on the south-west coast of Africa. Proceedings of the Zoological Society 1838, p. 5 ( [5] )
  44. ^ Jurgens AJ Meester, IL Rautenbach, NJ Dippenaar and CM Baker: Classification of Southern African Mammals. Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, South Africa, 1986, pp. 15-24
  45. ^ Austin Roberts: Some additions to the list of South African mammals. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 10 (2), 1924, pp. 59-76

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