Somalia gold mole

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Somalia gold mole
Systematics
Superordinate : Afrotheria
without rank: Afroinsectiphilia
Order : Tenrecus (Afrosoricida)
Family : Gold mole (Chrysochloridae)
Genre : Huetia
Type : Somalia gold mole
Scientific name
Huetia tytonis
( Simonetta , 1968)

The Somalia gold mole ( Huetia tytonis ; partly also Calcochloris tytonis ) is a rarely researched mammal from the family of the gold mole (Chrysochloridae). Only one individual in the form of some bone fragments has so far been observed in the remains of a barn owl . These come from Somalia , information on the actual appearance of the animal, its way of life and any threat to the population is not available. Likewise, the exact family relationships have so far only been insufficiently clarified. The scientific introduction of the species took place in 1968.

features

The Somalia gold mole is an almost unexplored, medium-sized representative of the gold mole , which is likely to reach the dimensions of the larger forms of the copper gold mole ( Amblysomus ). It is known so far only from an incomplete individual, the material includes a partial skull consisting of the skull base with the temporal bone and hyoid bone as well as the right lower jaw branch still connected to the skull and two cervical vertebrae. Descriptions of the external morphology of the animal are therefore not available. Features to be emphasized can be found on the lower jaw. This is 12.5 mm long and has a very wide, ascending articular branch that reaches 44% of the length of the entire lower jaw and is therefore more extensive than in numerous other gold mole. The dentition in the lower jaw consists of ten teeth per half of the jaw, so that the rearmost, third molar is also formed, which is a rather original feature for Goldmulle. The molars do not have a pronounced talonid. The length of the lower row of teeth from the first incisor to the last molar is 7.7 mm, the width of the first molar 0.9 mm. On the middle ear , the hammer is characterized by the lack of enlargement of the head, comparable to the copper gold mulle ( amblysomus ). The anvil, on the other hand, is slightly swollen.

distribution

Distribution area (red) of the Somalia gold mole

The only previously documented find of the Somalia gold mole came from the detritus of a barn owl , which was discovered in the summer of 1964 near Jowhar in central Somalia . The region thus also represents the type area of ​​the species. It belongs to the Somalia-Maasai bushland zone and is characterized by thickly overgrown bushland and savannahs . The area is around 750 km east and north of the nearest known gold mole deposits. No other specimen of the species has been documented since the first observation.

Way of life

Nothing is known about the way of life of the Somalia gold mole.

Systematics

The Somalia gold mole is a species of the gold mole family (Chrysochloridae). The gold mole comprise smaller, soil-digging mammals from the parentage of the Afrotheria . They are endemic in Africa with a focus on the southern part of the continent, a few species also occur in the eastern or central part. The animals inhabit dry to desert-like landscapes as well as open grass and savanna regions and forests, and due to their subterranean way of life, they are considered habitat specialists . The internal structure of the gold mole has so far been unsatisfactory. On the basis of the construction of the hammer in the middle ear - whether enlarged or not - two to three subfamilies are sometimes distinguished, but molecular genetic studies only partially agree. The systematic position of the Somalia gold mole is controversial. With reference to the normally built hammer of the middle ear, some authors initially favored a classification of the species in the copper gold mole ( Amblysomus ), while other authors saw it with reference to the presence of a third molar within the genus Chlorotalpa . In the mid-1990s, Gary N. Bronner referred the Somalia gold mole to the genus Calcochloris , which was supported by the normal malleus and the morphometric evaluation of a few measurable skull features. Due to the only existing specimen of the Somalia gold mole, Bronner gave it an indefinite relationship within Calcochloris ( incertae sedis ). He noted, however, that with regard to the developed third molar, there may be a closer relationship with the Congo gold mole rat ( Huetia leucorhina , then Calcochloris leucorhina ) and thus with the subgenus Huetia . Brunner's structure was subsequently adopted by some scholars. The results of a genetic analysis from 2010 prompted Robert J Asher and colleagues to raise the subgenus Huetia to the genus level and to assign it the Congo gold mole as the only genus at the time (they did not consider the Somalia gold mole rat in their study). In a preliminary study from 2018, Bronner advocated a shift of the Somalia gold mole to the genus Huetia and thus a close relationship to the Congo gold mole, which was carried out in the same year in the eighth volume of the standard work Handbook of the Mammals of the World . In general, more extensive finds are necessary to clarify the systematic position of the Somalia gold mole.

The first scientific description of the Somalia gold mole was in 1968 by Alberto M. Simonetta under the name Amblysomus tytonis . He had discovered the holotype himself four years earlier in an abandoned nest of a breeding pair of barn owls in central Somalia. The association of the remains of the Somalia gold mole rat with the barn owl led Simonetta to assign the species name tytonis (from Tyto alba , the scientific name for the barn owl).

Threat and protection

No data are available on possible threats to the Somalia gold mole population. The IUCN therefore does not list the species in a specific hazard category, but rather under "insufficient data basis" ( data deficient ). Above all, in addition to clarifying the systematic status of the Somalia gold mole, it is necessary to investigate its exact distribution and almost all aspects of its way of life and ecological demands.

literature

  • Gary N. Bronner: Calcochloris tytonis Somali 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. 236-237
  • 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
  • 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 (p. 198) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e 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
  2. ^ A b c d 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 (p. 198) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  3. ^ A b c Gary N. Bronner: Calcochloris tytonis Somali 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. 236-237
  4. ^ Gary N. Bronner and Nigel C. Bennett: Order Afrosoricida. In: John D. Skinner and Christian T. Chimimba (Eds.): The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 1-21
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ F. Petter: Remarques sur la systematique des Chrysochlorides. Mammalia 45 (1), 1981, pp. 49-53
  8. ^ Gary N. Bronner: Systematic revision of the Golden mole genera Amblysomus, Chlorotalpa and Calcochloris (Insectivora, Chrysochloromorpha, Chrysochloridae). University of Natal, Pretoria, 1995, pp. 1–346 (p. 268)
  9. ↑ Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Ed.): Mammal Species of the World . 3rd edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 ( [1] )
  10. ^ Gary Bronner: An imminent updated (2017) taxonomy for golden moles. Afrotherian Conservation 14, 2018, pp. 57–59
  11. ^ A b S. Maree: Calcochloris tytonis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015. e.T4767A21285700. ( [2] ); last accessed on January 26, 2016

Web links

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