Great Chinese mole

Great Chinese mole
Systematics
Order :	Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family :	Moles (Talpidae)
Subfamily :	Old World Moles (Talpinae)
Tribe :	Actual moles (Talpini)
Genre :	Southeast Asian moles ( Euroscaptor )
Type :	Great Chinese mole
Scientific name
	Euroscaptor grandis
	Miller , 1940

The great Chinese mole ( Euroscaptor grandis ) is one of the species of Southeast Asian moles within the moles (Talpidae). It is endemic to the People's Republic of China and lives in parts of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces .

features

The great Chinese mole reaches a head-trunk length of about 15.0 centimeters and a tail length of 1.0 centimeters. It is significantly larger than other species of the genus, especially as the sympatric living Longnose Mole ( Euroscaptor longirostris ). The fur is also dark brown, not black like the long-nosed mole. The sparsely hairy tail is short and thickened at the end. The front feet are 2.3 centimeters long and 1.5 centimeters wide, the corresponding dimensions of the rear feet are 1.8 centimeters and 0.7 centimeters. The skull length is 3.7 centimeters, the largest width at the brain skull 1.7 centimeters.

distribution

Distribution area of the great Chinese mole

The great Chinese mole is endemic to the People's Republic of China and lives in central Sichuan Province and western Yunnan . Occurrences in Myanmar are possible, but have not been scientifically confirmed. Proven occurrences in northern Vietnam have been identified as the long-nosed mole.

The altitude distribution is between 1000 and 3000 meters.

Way of life

Very little information is available about the way of life of the Great Chinese Mole, but it should be consistent with that of the other moles. According to this, they mostly live underground, where they set up passage systems. Their diet consists of earthworms, insects and other small animals.

The species occurs mainly on high mountain slopes with loose soil near rivers and surrounding forest areas.

Systematics

The great Chinese mole is classified as one of six to eight species of the Southeast Asian moles ( Euroscaptor ) within the moles (Talpidae). The Southeast Asian moles also form a member of the tribe of the actual moles (Talpini), which unite the mostly digging representatives of the moles. Other members of the family, on the other hand, only live partially underground, move above ground or are adapted to a semi-aquatic way of life. According to molecular genetic studies, two kinship groups can be distinguished within the genus , the western longirostris group around the long-nosed mole ( Euroscaptor longirostris ) and the eastern parvidens group around the pakho mole ( Euroscaptor parvidens ). The exact location of the Great Chinese Mole is unclear. In 2016, genetic analyzes of an individual of the type locality of the species did not reveal any differences from the long-nosed mole, which also agrees with the morphometric values of the animal examined. The authors of the study state that the great Chinese mole is either identical to the long-nosed mole or that the place of discovery has been confused, as they do not assume that the representatives of the genus Euroscaptor are sympatric . The species was first described scientifically in 1940 by Gerrit S. Miller and was distinguished from other representatives of the Southeast Asian moles mainly because of its size and also because of its tail shape. The holotype used for this , a fully grown female, was collected by DC Graham in 1930 near Leshan in the Chinese province of Sichuan . Graham himself gave the location with the mountain Emei Shan and an altitude of 1525 meters. Subspecies are not described.

Hazard and protection

The species is listed as not endangered ( least concern ) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) due to its large distribution area and the assumed large population numbers . In addition, it is rated as relatively tolerant of habitat changes and specific threats to the species are not known.

literature

Robert S. Hoffmann , Darrin P. Lunde : Greater Chinese Mole. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie (Eds.): A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 322.

Web links

Commons : Euroscaptor grandis - collection of images

Euroscaptor grandis inthe IUCN 2012 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: D. Lunde, L. Ruedas, Andrew T. Smith , 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2013.

supporting documents

^ ^A ^b Gerrit S. Miller: Notes on Some Moles from Southeastern Asia. Journal of Mammalogy 21 (4), 1940, pp. 442-444.
^ ^A ^b ^c Robert S. Hoffmann , Darrin P. Lunde : Greater Chinese Mole. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie (Eds.): A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 322.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Euroscaptor grandis in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2012.2. Posted by: D. Lunde, L. Ruedas, Andrew T. Smith , 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
↑ 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.
↑ ^a ^b E. D. Zemlemerova, AA Bannikova, VS Lebedev, VV Rozhnov and AV Abramov: Secrets of the underground Vietnam: an underestimated species diversity of Asian moles (Lipotyphla: Talpidae: Euroscaptor). Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 320 (2), 2016, pp. 193-220.
↑ Euroscaptor grandis . In: 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 .

[Miller_1940-1] A ^b Gerrit S. Miller: Notes on Some Moles from Southeastern Asia. Journal of Mammalogy 21 (4), 1940, pp. 442-444.

[Smith_&_Yan_Xie_2009-2] A ^b ^c Robert S. Hoffmann , Darrin P. Lunde : Greater Chinese Mole. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie (Eds.): A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 322.

[IUCN-3] Euroscaptor grandis in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2012.2. Posted by: D. Lunde, L. Ruedas, Andrew T. Smith , 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2013.

[He_et_al._2016-4] 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.

[Zemlemerova_et_al._2016-5] E. D. Zemlemerova, AA Bannikova, VS Lebedev, VV Rozhnov and AV Abramov: Secrets of the underground Vietnam: an underestimated species diversity of Asian moles (Lipotyphla: Talpidae: Euroscaptor). Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 320 (2), 2016, pp. 193-220.

[Wilson_&_Reeder_2005-6] Euroscaptor grandis . In: 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 .