Eurasian moles

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Eurasian moles
European mole (Talpa europaea)

European mole ( Talpa europaea )

Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family : Moles (Talpidae)
Subfamily : Old World Moles (Talpinae)
Tribe : Actual moles (Talpini)
Genre : Eurasian moles
Scientific name
Talpa
Linnaeus , 1758

The Eurasian moles ( Talpa ) are a genus of mammals from the mole family (Talpidae). The genus includes around a dozen species living in Europe and northern and western Asia, of which the European mole is probably the best known.

features

The Eurasian moles have the "mole-typical" body structure of the actual moles and differ from the other genera of this tribe primarily in the number and construction of the teeth. Their bodies are cylindrical, their forelegs are almost hairless and transformed into digging tools that end in powerful claws. The eyes are very small and hidden in the fur, there are no external auricles. The snout is pointed and, like the short tail, only sparsely hairy. The thick fur is usually gray in color, but the coloration can vary from white-gray to black. These animals reach head body lengths of 9 to 18 centimeters, a tail length of 1.5 to 3.5 centimeters and a weight of 65 to 120 grams.

distribution and habitat

Eurasian moles are common in large parts of Europe as well as in northern and western Asia (as far as Mongolia and northern Iran ).

Way of life

Eurasian moles spend almost their entire lives in self-dug, underground tunnel systems that can extend up to 1 meter deep. These corridors usually have a central nest, two circular, interconnected corridors and individual tunnels leading into neighboring areas. They are active both day and night and live solitary outside of the mating season.

food

The food consists mostly of insects and earthworms , some of which are stored in the burrows. Sometimes they also ingest small vertebrates such as snakes , lizards , mice, and small birds . Due to their high metabolic rate , they have to eat almost constantly, and reports have shown that they can die after 10 to 12 hours without eating.

Reproduction

Usually the female gives birth to two to seven (usually three or four) young animals once a year (in spring) after a gestation period of around 28 days. After about a month, the young leave the mother's nest, but remain near her for a while. Sexual maturity does not occur before the second half of life.

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 genus of Eurasian moles includes 14 species:

Molecular genetic studies from 2014 and 2015 indicate that the European mole ( Talpa europaea ) forms three monophyletic lines each . These include the actual European mole, a population on the northern Apennine Peninsula and one in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. The latter was raised to species level in 2015 and was first described as Talpa aquitania . The Levantine mole ( Talpa Levantis ) and the Caucasian mole ( Talpa caucasica ) contain further genetic analyzes indicate possibly more cryptic species . In the first case this speaks for the independence of the eastern form Talpa transcaucasica , in the latter case Talpa ognevi is to be regarded as a separate species. For Talpa ognevi , this step was taken in 2018 in the eighth volume of the standard work Handbook of the Mammals of the World ; Talpa transcaucasica received an independent species status in 2020. Until recently, the genera of the Southeast Asian moles ( Euroscaptor ), the East Asian moles ( Mogera ), the white-tailed moles ( Parascaptor ) and short-faced moles ( Scaptochirus ) that live in East and Southeast Asia were also incorporated into this genus. Differences in the construction and number of teeth led to the separation of these genera from the Eurasian moles.

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 (pp. 609-614) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
  • Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d 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
  2. ↑ a b 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 (pp. 609-614) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  3. ↑ Boris Kryštufek, Nedko Nedyalkov, Jonas J. Astrin and Rainer Huttere]: News from the Balkan refugium: Thrace has an endemic mole species (Mammalia: Talpidae). Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1), 2018, pp. 41–57
  4. ↑ a b Violaine Nicolas, Jessica Martínez-Vargas and Jean-Pierre Hugot: Preliminary note: Talpa aquitania nov. sp. (Talpidae, Soricomorpha) a new mole species from southwest France and north Spain. Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France 168, 2015, pp. 329–334
  5. ↑ a b Violaine Nicolas, Jessica Martínez-Vargas and Jean-Pierre Hugot: Talpa aquitania sp. nov. (Talpidae, Soricomorpha), a new mole species from SW France and N Spain. Mammalia 81 (6), 2017, pp. 641-642
  6. ^ Boris Krystufek: The distribution of the Levant Mole, Talpa levantis. Zoology in the Middle East 23 (1), 2001, pp. 17-21, doi: 10.1080 / 09397140.2001.10637863
  7. ↑ 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, doi: 10.1093 / molbev / msw221
  8. ↑ Jean-Pierre Hugot, Se Hun Gu, Carlos Feliu, Jacint Ventura, Alexis Ribas, Jérôme Dormion, Richard Yanagihara and Violaine Nicolas: Genetic variability of Talpa europaea and Nova hantavirus (NVAV) in France. Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France 167 (3), 2014, pp. 177-184
  9. ↑ Roberto Feuda, Anna A. Bannikova, Elena D. Zemlemerova, Mirko D. Febbraro, Anna Loy, Rainer Hutterer, Gaetano Aloise, Alexander E. Zykov, Flavia Annesi and Paolo Colangelo: Tracing the evolutionary history of the mole, Talpa europaea, through mitochondrial DNA phylogeography and species distribution modeling. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 114, 2015, pp. 495-512
  10. ↑ 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

Web links

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