European mole

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European mole
European mole (Talpa europaea)

European mole ( Talpa europaea )

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

The European mole ( Talpa europaea ) is a mammal of the family of moles (Talpidae) within the order of insectivores (Eulipotyphla). He is the only representative of his family in Central Europe .

For the name, see Moles: Etymologie

features

European moles, like all representatives of the real moles, show a physique that is well adapted to the underground way of life.

Physique and limbs

Skeleton (top view, bottom side)
Palm of the left digging shovel

As with most moles, the soft fur is only made of wool. It is usually gray in color, but in individual animals its coloration can vary from white-gray to brownish to black. European Moles reach a head fuselage length of 10 to 17 centimeters, the tail is 2 to 4.5 centimeters long and is only sparsely hairy - this hair is as whiskers developed. The weight of adult animals is usually between 60 and 120 grams.

The trunk of these animals is cylindrical, the pointed head sits on a short, barely visible neck. The forelimbs are transformed into digging tools. The hands, which are turned with the palm of the hand outward, are shovel-shaped and end in five powerfully clawed fingers; they are also reinforced by a sesame bone . The arms lie well in front of the chest next to the head, they are short and fully integrated into the body contour. The elbow joint is shifted high in the shoulder area, it is not used for powerful digging, but only for positioning the hand. As with most moles, the European mole has an articulated connection between the collarbone and the upper arm that is unique among mammals . The burial activity occurs through the rotation of the upper arm, which is carried out by the well-developed arm muscles. The hind legs also have five toes, but are less specialized than the front limbs. Front and rear legs are flesh-colored and almost hairless. Moles have an additional sickle-shaped bone ( sesamoid ) on their forehand that helps them dig.

Head and teeth

Head drawing (1876)

As with most insectivores, the skull is elongated and flat. The eyes are small and hidden in the fur, they are probably only used to differentiate between light and dark, there are no auricles . Long whisker hairs on the face serve as the sense of touch . The snout is long and mobile, it is richly equipped with tactile sensory cells (so-called Eimer's organs according to Theodor Eimer ), which enable it to perceive not only tactile stimuli, but probably also electrical stimuli that arise when the muscles of their potential prey animals move.

European moles, like some other moles, have 44 teeth and thus the complete set of teeth of the placenta animals; three incisors , one canine , four premolars and three molars per half of the jaw . Their teeth have pointed cusps and sharp enamel ridges and are well adapted to their carnal diet. As in all moles, the cusps of the posterior molars are arranged in a w-shape (dilambdodont).

Internal anatomy

The digestive tract is - just built - as with all insectivores. The intestine is only a tube and compared to the body length is very short, the appendix is missing. As an adaptation to the oxygen-poor air in the duct systems, the hemoglobin content in the blood is significantly higher than in other mammals of comparable size. In the construction of the reproductive tract , moles show similarities with other insectivores: In the males, the testes are located outside the abdominal cavity in scrotum- like skin folds, the cremaster folds. The females have a two-horned uterus ( uterus bicornis ).

distribution and habitat

Distribution area

The distribution area of ​​the European mole extends from Great Britain (but not Ireland ) over large parts of Central and Eastern Europe to Siberia in the region of the Ob and Irtysh rivers . It prefers temperate regions and is absent in the cooler areas of Eurasia as well as in the Caucasus region and in the Mediterranean area (there, however, some closely related representatives of the genus of the Eurasian mole ( Talpa ) occur). Its habitat are not too dry soils in meadows, forests and also in cultivated land. In the Alps it lives up to an altitude of 2,400 meters.

Way of life

Burial activity and duct systems

Molehills lie along the underground passage system

Like all real moles, European moles spend most of their lives in a self-dug, underground tunnel system, the tunnels of which can extend just below the surface of the earth as well as up to a depth of 1 meter. The excavated material is pushed to the surface, creating the characteristic molehills . These are generally not above the corridors, but around 15 centimeters away, because the earth is pushed upwards at an angle. With particularly loose soil, there is hardly any excavation material and with snow cover it even happens that the tunnels lead through the sward . The digging speed can be up to 7 meters per hour, depending on the nature of the soil. The mole traverses the completed corridors at a speed of up to 67 meters per minute (4 kilometers per hour). Most of the mole ducts are no deeper than 10 to 20 centimeters, often closer to the surface, but below the main root region. Only in winter, especially when there is frost, and when it is very dry in summer, European moles shift their activity to greater depths of up to 50 to 60 centimeters. These food passages are often circular and are connected to one another with the nest chamber.

The nest chamber is lower than the food passages and is padded with leaves and grass. These nests serve as resting places, as food stores and also to raise young ones. The depth of the nests in the ground depends, among other things, on the groundwater level and, like the tunnels, is deepened in frosty conditions or piles of earth are layered over them to cover them. Noticeably large molehills, called “castles”, are signs of this. Often there are also some alternative nests in addition to the main nest.

Activity times and social behavior

Like many other subterranean mammals, European moles do not have a distinct day-night rhythm. The activity is divided into three waking and sleeping phases, the waking phases are usually in the morning, in the afternoon and around midnight, each lasting about 4 to 5 hours. During these phases they roam their corridors in search of something to eat. They do not hibernate , but are also active during the colder months of the year. In order to find enough food during this time, they move their activities to deeper layers of the soil and build up supplies.

European moles, like most insectivores, are solitary animals who avoid contact with conspecifics outside of the mating season. The corridors and nests are marked with glandular secretions in order to draw the attention of invading conspecifics. The animals are territorial and inhabit an average area of ​​2000 square meters. Only in the mating season in spring do the males expand their territories considerably, so that it overlaps with that of the females in the area.

nutrition

Drawing (probably 19th century): Mole preying on a grub

Foraging can be done in three ways: by digging in the ground, by wandering through the tunnels and by searching the surface of the earth. Which method is used depends, among other things, on the condition of the soil and the experience of the animal.

Moles live exclusively on animal food, especially earthworms and insects (such as beetles and two-winged birds ) and their larvae. To a small extent, they also consume small vertebrates such as lizards and rodents . They store earthworms in their nests, especially before the winter months. In doing so, they bite off the front body segments so that they cannot escape but stay alive.

Moles have a high metabolic rate and have to eat a lot every day. They usually do not survive longer food breaks (12 to 24 hours without food). The amount of food consumed daily is half to full weight (5 to 50 grams with an average of 20 grams). A mole weighing 100 grams consumes 20 to 30 kilograms of worms and insects per year.

Reproduction

The mating season for European moles falls in spring (usually in the months of March to April). Sometimes during this time there will be battles between the males for mating privilege. Mating itself can take place both on the surface of the earth and underground. After a gestation period of around four weeks, the female gives birth to two to seven (three to four on average) young between the end of April and the beginning of June. The cubs lying in the nest, initially naked and only 35-44 mm tall, are blind for three weeks, suckled for four to six weeks and finish the nestling period after one to two months. There are also reports of two litters a year. The sexual maturity occurs in the second half year of life, so that they participate mostly after the first winter in reproduction.

Threats and Life Expectancy

Illegal mole trap: one of the greatest enemies is humans

Factors that prevent moles from reaching their potential maximum age are, in addition to the stalking of humans, floods , permanent ground frost and rivals of their own species. Predators include birds, including owls , buzzards , corvids and white storks , as well as predators such as foxes and species of marten , such as the polecat , but also wild boars . Domestic dogs occasionally bite moles to death, but do not eat them. Occasionally moles are preyed on by domestic cats .

The maximum age of the European mole is usually given as three to four, a maximum of five years. Research shows that more than two thirds of a population are one year old or younger. Three- and four-year-old animals are rarely found. The highest mortality rate is found in young animals around two months old that have left their mother's nest and have to establish their own territory.

European moles and people

Annoying some gardeners: fresh molehills on the lawn
The rare albinos are also European moles, despite their different appearance

Conflicts between humans and European moles are mainly based on the burial activity of these animals. Although they are pure carnivores and do not consume any vegetable food, their burrowing way of life can cause damage to plant roots. The hills and tunnels can sometimes damage mowing and harvesting equipment. In many cases, however, it is purely visual reasons that make moles appear "annoying".

Also, because of the different assessments of the type and quantity of food of the moles in earlier decades, violent controversies about the supposed "harmfulness" (earthworm killer) or “usefulness” ( wireworm killer ) of the European mole arose . Above all, Brehm's animal life brought the mole into disrepute as “a truly terrible predator” . Johann Peter Hebel, on the other hand, explained to the readers of the Rhineland family friend : "If you are very diligent in pursuing the mole and want to destroy it with stump and stalk, you are doing yourself the greatest harm and the grubs the greatest favor."

In Germany (with exceptions) all native species of mammals ( mammalia species pluralis ) are specially protected in accordance with Appendix 1 of the Federal Species Protection Ordinance - including the mole. Therefore, § 44 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatschG) forbids chasing, catching, injuring or killing these animals. Only scare away with ecological means, such as certain odorous substances, is allowed. In duly justified cases, the nature conservation authorities issue exemptions for killing or resettlement. One recommendation is to design the garden close to nature and thus offer the natural enemies a habitat.

In Austria , Section 6, Paragraph 1 of the Federal Act on the Protection of Animals (Animal Protection Act - TSchG) and Section 222, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code prohibit the killing of vertebrates without good reason, so that killing is only permitted in special cases. Furthermore, Section 5 of the law also forbids “causing an animal unjustified pain, suffering or damage or causing it to be terrified”.

In Switzerland , the Animal Welfare Act generally prohibits inflicting pain and suffering on an animal. However, the mole is not protected and may be fought. While mole bonuses used to be normal in large parts of the country, the municipality of Schluein was mentioned in national newspapers in March 2016 because it renewed such a bonus.

From a global perspective, the European mole is widespread and is not an endangered species. In the red list of the BfN is the europ. Mole managed, but indicated as safe with population "often". Internationally, the IUCN lists it as not endangered (“least concern”).

Moles are rarely kept in zoos . The only European keeper is a British institution, former German keepers are zoos in Osnabrück, Dresden and Köthen. In Osnabrück, the keeping was carried out on the basis of a visitor survey, as most of the visitors to the underground zoo there missed the mole. After several animals perished within a short time, the keeping was ended.

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 European mole is one of at least eleven species of the genus Eurasian moles ( Talpa ), the remaining representatives of which live in the Mediterranean region as well as in northern and western Asia. The phylogenetic relationships within this genus are still largely unexplored. Together with five East and Southeast Asian genera, all of which have a similar physique and a similar way of life, it forms the genus group of the real moles (Talpini). According to molecular genetic studies from 2014 and 2015, three monophyletic lines can be distinguished within the species of the European mole . One of these includes the actual European mole in Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. Another line consists of the population in the north of the Apennine Peninsula , while the third includes animals in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. The latter was separated from the European mole in 2015 and first described as a separate species Talpa aquitania . The species Talpa martinorum, introduced in 2018, is also closely related to the European mole .

literature

  • Konrad Herter: The insect eaters. In: Bernhard Grzimek (ed.): Grzimeks animal life. Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom. Volume 10: Mammals. Part 1. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-423-03206-5 , pp. 169-232.
  • Kenneth Mellanby: The Mole. Taplinger Publishing Co., New York NY 1973, ISBN 0-8008-5316-4 .
  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
  • Gerhard Storch : Lipotyphla, insect eater. In: Wilfried Westheide , Reinhard Rieger (Ed.): Special Zoology. Volume 2: Vertebrates or Skull Animals. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg et al. 2004, ISBN 3-8274-0307-3 , pp. 514-524.
  • Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World . A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
  • Günter R. Witte : The mole. Talpa europaea. (= Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei. Volume 637). Westarp Sciences, Magdeburg 1997, ISBN 3-89432-870-3 .

Web links

Commons : European mole ( Talpa europaea )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ How the mole gets its twelve fingers. ( Memento of February 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). University of Zurich: Media release of July 14, 2011.
  2. ↑ Konrad Herter: The insect eater. In: Bernhard Grzimek (ed.): Grzimeks animal life. Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom. Volume 10: Mammals. Part 1. 1979, pp. 169-232.
  3. ^ Gillian K. Godfrey (Mrs. Crowcroft): A field study of the activity of the mole (Talpa europaea). In: Ecology. Vol. 36, No. 4, 1955, ISSN  0012-9658 , pp. 678-685.
  4. ↑ Kenneth Mellanby: Food and activity in the mole Talpa europaea. In: Nature . Vol. 215, 1967, pp. 1128-1130, doi : 10.1038 / 2151128a0 .
  5. ↑ a b c Boris Kryštufek, Masaharu Motokawa: Talpidae (Moles, Desmans, Star-nosed Moles and Shrew Moles). In: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, pp. 552-620 (pp. 613-614) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4 .
  6. ↑ https://www.igelzentrum.ch/images/Doc/IuU2016_2.pdf Life in the Dark - the Mole in Igel & Umwelt 02/2016, page 4, accessed on March 16, 2018
  7. ↑ Martin Görner, Hans Hackethal: Mammals Europe. Neumann Verlag, Leipzig et al. 1987, ISBN 3-7402-0025-1 .
  8. ↑ Konrad Herter: The insect eater. In: Bernhard Grzimek (ed.): Grzimeks animal life. Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom. Volume 10: Mammals. Part 1. 1979, pp. 169-232.
  9. ↑ Oluwadare Funmilayo: Age determination, age distribution and sex ratio in mole population. In: Acta Theriologica. Vol. 21, No. 14, 1976, ISSN  0001-7051 , pp. 207-215, online (PDF; 5.77 MB) ( Memento from November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
  10. ↑ Stanisław Skoczeń: Age determination, age structure and sex ratio in mole, Talpa europaea Linnaeus, 1758 populations. In: Acta Theriologica. Vol. 11, No. 26, 1966, pp. 523-536, online (PDF; 3.72 MB) .
  11. ^ Alfred Brehm : Brehms animal life. Mammals. Volume 6: Insectivores and rodents in the Gutenberg-DE project
  12. ↑ Johann Peter Hebel : The Mole. In: Treasure chest of the Rhenish family friend . on Wikisource
  13. ↑ http://biotop-hamburg.de/der-maulwurf/index.html
  14. ↑ There are four francs for the front paws , Blick, March 30, 2016
  15. ↑ Agroscope (Federal Competence Center for Agricultural Research): Mice and other small mammals in vegetable growing ( Memento from April 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), information sheet October 2013
  16. ^ Red list of endangered animals, plants and fungi in Germany. Volume 1: Vertebrates (= nature conservation and biological diversity 70, 1). Federal Agency for Nature Conservation et al., Bonn-Bad Godesberg et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-7843-5033-2 .
  17. ↑ Talpa europaea in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2008. Posted by: G. Amori u. a., 2008. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
  18. ↑ The European mole on the zoo animal list , accessed on February 7, 2016.
  19. ^ Article from January 13, 2015 in "Das tiergarten.com - Forum"
  20. ↑ 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
  21. ↑ 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
  22. ↑ 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
  23. ↑ 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
  24. ^ 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
  25. ↑ Boris Kryštufek, Nedko Nedyalkov, Jonas J. Astrin and Rainer Hutterer: News from the Balkan refugium: Thrace has an endemic mole species (Mammalia: Talpidae). Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1), 2018, pp. 41–57