Caucasian mole

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Caucasian mole
Caucasian mole (Talpa caucasica)

Caucasian mole ( Talpa caucasica )

Systematics
Order : Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family : Moles (Talpidae)
Subfamily : Old World Moles (Talpinae)
Tribe : Actual moles (Talpini)
Genre : Eurasian moles ( Talpa )
Type : Caucasian mole
Scientific name
Talpa caucasica
Satunin , 1908

The Caucasian mole ( Talpa caucasica ) is a mammal of the family of moles (Talpidae) within the order of insectivores (Eulipotyphla). It occurs in southern Russia as well as in parts of northern Georgia and inhabits humid landscapes with forest cover there. Sometimes it also penetrates into drier high altitudes. It is a larger representative of the Eurasian mole , which is roughly the size of the European mole and also looks similar to it. However, unlike the European mole, its eyes are covered with skin, the coat color varies from black to black-brown. The animals dig passages and tunnels in which there are nest chambers. The diet consists of invertebrates with a high proportion of earthworms . Reproduction takes place in spring. Females give birth to a litter of one to five young once a year. The species was first described in 1908. Their occurrence was originally considered to be more extensive, with a distribution area that reached as far as northeastern Turkey . According to genetic studies, however, the southern population with the Ognev mole represents a separate line. The population of the Caucasian mole is classified as not threatened.

features

Habitus

The Caucasian mole reaches about the size of the European mole ( Talpa europaea ). Its head-body length varies from 9.9 to 14.2 cm, the tail length from 2.2 to 4.2 cm and the weight from 38 to 102 g. Males are between 15 and 23% heavier than females. In general, there are strong fluctuations in size depending on the geographical distribution. Animals in areas below 1000 m altitude as well as in the north and northeast of the Caucasus weigh an average of 63.8 and 67.5 g, respectively , according to an investigation of two populations . In contrast, individuals from higher altitudes in the central Caucasus weigh on average 79 g. Outwardly, the Caucasian mole is similar to the European mole. As with the latter, the body of the former is also cylindrical in shape and robustly built, the head sits on a short neck and the front feet are shaped like a shovel and turned outwards. However, unlike its European sister form, the eyes of the Caucasian mole are covered with a permeable layer of skin. The fur appears black, black-gray or black-brown. Animals colored gray or Havana brown are very rare. Occasionally there are yellow-brown, yellow or white spots of color on the muzzle, on the throat and on the chest. The rear foot length is 1.6 to 2.1 cm.

Skull and dentition features

The skull is elongated and especially narrow on the rostrum . Its length ranges from 30.0 to 36.0 mm, the width on the zygomatic arches from 10.9 to 13.2 mm and on the cranium from 14.8 to 16.0 mm. The teeth comprises 44 teeth and has the following tooth formula on . The molars are robust. On the upper first molar is the mesostyle, a small cusp between the two main cusps on the lip side (paraconus and metaconus), two-pointed, the European mole has only one point here.

Genetic traits

The diploid chromosome set is 2n = 38. It consists of 12 metacentric, 1 submetacentric, and 5 telocentric pairs. The X chromosome is submetacentric, the Y chromosome metacentric to patchy.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area of ​​the Caucasian mole; the actual occurrence is limited to the north of the area shown here

The distribution area of ​​the Caucasian mole is in the southern part of Eastern Europe and includes the southwestern section of the Caucasus . It is thus located in the southern part of Russia and some areas of northern Georgia . It is bounded to the west by the Sea of ​​Azov and to the north by the Jeja River in the Krasnodar region of Russia . To the south it extends into the Caucasus, roughly on the line from Sukhumi in Abkhazia to Nalchik in Kabardino-Balkaria . Here it borders on the occurrence of the Ognev mole ( Talpa ognevi ). In addition, the habitat of the Caucasian mole overlaps with that of Talpa transcaucasica . If they occur together, the former is usually more common. An individual from the Iranian province of Gilan , located on the Caspian Sea , was originally assigned to the Caucasian mole, but it is presumably identical to the talysh mole ( Talpa talysensis ). The Caucasian mole lives in humid depressions, river valleys and patches of beech trees , which are also its preferred habitats . In higher mountain areas it can also be found in coniferous forests and on meadows. Summer dry phases restrict its habitat more strongly here. The upper limit of distribution is at an altitude of about 2800 m.

Way of life

Territorial behavior

The Caucasian mole is active during the day and night with several phases spread over the day. According to investigations in the western Caucasus, which took place in December, the animals show greater activity from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m., from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Like all Eurasian moles, they dig underground tunnels and passages, some of which are branched out and whose entrances are marked by typical ejection mounds ( molehills ). An individual can create a system of corridors around 42 m long and 10 to 20 cm deep within fourteen days, which corresponds to around 3 m daily. It accumulates a total of 87 mounds with a total volume of over 197,300 cm³. On average, a molehill holds 2268 cm³, the largest recorded during the study period consisted of 20,725 cm³ of earth. In deciduous forests, up to 100 hills are distributed over one hectare . Their number goes back to around 30 hills on subalpine meadows and 20 hills on a comparably large area in dark coniferous forests or in forest steppe landscapes. Permanent tunnels run at an average depth of 20 to 25 cm, but can reach up to 1 m below the surface. Tunnels near the surface are shallower in forests with a depth of around 5 cm than in forest steppes and on meadows, where they are 8 to 20 cm deep. In areas with a thick layer of leaves, they are partly above ground. The tunnels contain individual chambers, mostly 10 to 40 cm deep. In protected areas such as under large tree trunks, they are sometimes only 10 to 15 cm below the surface. The chambers are between 12 and 16 cm long, 10 to 15 cm wide and 8 to 10 cm high. They contain nests made of plant material such as dry leaves or rotten wood. No information is available on the annual migration of animals, their social structure and the extent of territories.

nutrition

The main diet of the Caucasian mole, like other Eurasian moles, also consists of invertebrates . The main prey is earthworms , which can be observed in around 91% of all examined stomach contents. A good 75% of the stomach contents also contained insects and other arthropods , but they only make up around 10% of the consumed biomass. Plants are very rarely eaten. The stomach contents of males weigh around 2.5 g, while females weigh around 2.3 g. The amount of food consumed daily is 30 to 40 g.

Reproduction

The reproductive phase begins in February, more rarely in January, and lasts until May, with exceptions until June. The peak, however, was reached in March. The gestation period is around 35 to 40 days. Females usually give birth only once a year, with up to five young in a litter. The young animals are relatively resistant to hunger and can go without food for up to three days. The individual growth rate is very fast. After around 30 to 40 days, the young are between 10 and 11 cm long and weigh around 20 to 30 g. At this point they begin to independently explore the corridors and tunnels of the mother animal.

Parasites

Internal parasites include with nematodes of the genus Soboliphyme documented.

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 Caucasian Mole is a type from the genus of Eurasian moles ( Talpa ), which further includes about a dozen members, including the European mole ( Talpa europaea ) as the best known. The Eurasian moles in turn belong to the tribe of the actual moles (Talpini) within the family of the moles (Talpidae). The tribe unites the mostly digging representatives of the moles, while other members of the family only partially live underground, move above ground or pursue a semi-aquatic way of life.

Konstantin Alexejewitsch Satunin

The first scientific description of the Caucasian mole comes from Konstantin Alexejewitsch Satunin in 1908. Satunin examined several specimens, including those from the vicinity of Stavropol in the region of Russia of the same name . This is considered to be the type area of ​​the species. In his work, Satunin introduced the Caucasian mole as a subspecies of the blind mole and consequently named it Talpa caeca caucasica (originally written as Talpa coeca caucasica ). The naming as an independent species is based on Sergei Iwanowitsch Ognjow from 1926. In the 1980s, Soviet scientists distinguished a total of three subspecies. In addition to the nominate form T. c. caucasica they identified large individuals from the South Caucasus region as T. c. ognevi from. This representative was scientifically introduced by Sergei Ulyanovich Stroganov in 1944 , and it is found in northeastern Turkey . Another form populated with T. c. orientalis the coastal area of ​​the Azov and Black Seas between Sukhumi and Novorossiysk . It goes back to Ognjow in 1926.

In the 2000s and 2010s, molecular genetic studies brought new insights into the relationships between the moles. According to these, the Caucasian mole forms a closer family group with the Talysh mole ( Talpa talyschensis ) and the Pater David mole ( Talpa davidiana ). As with the latter and in agreement with other moles of the Caucasus region and southern Europe, the sacrum in the Caucasian mole shows a caecoidal structure (the opening of the foramen on the fourth sacral vertebra is directed backwards). This distinguishes these forms from some western and central European representatives, which have a europaeoidal structure (the opening of the foramen on the fourth sacral vertebra is covered by a bone bridge). All three named species can be understood as an eastern group of the European moles, which is opposed to a western group with the European mole and other representatives with European and West Asian distribution areas. The splitting of these two groups plus the very basal Siberian mole ( Talpa altaica ) began in the transition from the Miocene to the Pliocene around 6 to 5 million years ago. In addition, it was found that T. c. ognevi, as the southern population of the Caucasian mole, had already formed an independent line in the late Pliocene 2.5 to 3 million years ago. This spoke for an independent species status. In support of this, previously discovered differences in the karyotype between the two forms were considered. The southern group, commonly known as the Ognev mole , was therefore spun off in 2018 and raised to species level. Within the Caucasian mole, the position of the subspecies T. c. orientalis questionable, since the animals do not form an independent clade according to the genetic data . As a result, the Caucasian mole is currently listed as monotypical .

Threat and protection

The Caucasian mole is listed by the IUCN as “not threatened” ( least concern ), but the assessment currently still includes the Ognev mole . The nature conservation organization sees the species as widespread and does not expect the population to decline. No major threats are known. Due to the destruction or transformation of the landscape and also as a result of drought, individual stands can be affected locally. Regionally, the Caucasian mole is on the red list of Kabardino-Balkaria and Kalmykia . He was heavily hunted in the Krasnodar Territory . Between 1937 and 1941 alone, around 1.8 million skins were sold every year. By the 1950s, this decreased to around 35,000 pelts a year. Today the trade in mole skins has largely dwindled. The species occurs in several nature reserves.

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 (p. 610) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  • М. В. Зайцев, Л. Л. Войта and Б. И. Шефтель: Млекопитающие фауны России и сопредельных территорий. Насекомоядные. Санкт-Петербург, 2014, pp. 1–390 (pp. 141–145)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g М. В. Зайцев, Л. Л. Войта and Б. И. Шефтель: Млекопитающие фауны России и сопредельных территорий. Насекомоядные. Санкт-Петербург, 2014, pp. 1–390 (pp. 141–145)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j 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 (p. 610) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
  3. ↑ a b Konstantin Alexejewitsch Satunin: About the moles of southern Russia and the Caucasus. Communications of the Caucasian Museum 4, 1908, pp. 7–11 (Russian version, pp. 1–6 including tables) ( [1] )
  4. ↑ М. В. Зайцев: Вопросы диагностики и систематики кротов Кавказа (Insectivora, Talpidae, Talpa). Зоологический Журнал 78 (6), 1999, pp. 718-731
  5. ↑ Р. И. Дзуев, В. Г. Иванов and А. К. Темботов: Кариологические исследования кротов северного Кавказа. Бюллетень Московского общества испытателей природы 77, 1972, pp. 33-36
  6. ↑ А. И. Козловский, В. Н. Орлов and Н. С. Папко: Систематическое положение Кавказкого (Talpa caucasica Satun.) И обыкновенного (Talpa europaea L.) кротиов по кариосного. Зоологический Журнал 51, 1972, pp. 312-316
  7. ↑ E. Gornung, M. Volleth, E. Capanna and R. Castiglia: Comparative cytogenetics of moles (Eulipotyphla, Talpidae): chromosomal differences in Talpa romana and T. europaea. Cytogenetic Genome Research 121, 2008, pp. 249-254, doi: 10.1159 / 000138892
  8. ↑ Boris Kryštufek and P. Benda: The Caucasian mole Talpa caucasica - a new mammal for Iran. Mammalian Biology 67, 2002, pp. 113-116
  9. ↑ S. Naderi, A. Mirzajani, H. Rajabi Maham and E. Hadipour: The mammals of Anzali Wetland in the Southern Caspian Sea. Caspian Journal of Environmental Science 15 (3), 2017, pp. 223-235
  10. ↑ a b Boris Kryštufek and Vladimír Vohralík: Mammals of Turkey and Cyprus. Introduction, Checklist, Insectivora. Koper, 2001, pp. 1–140 (pp. 98–99)
  11. ↑ Г. В. Кузнецов: О роющей деятельности Кавказского крота (Talpa caucasica). Зоологический Журнал 49 (8), 1970, pp. 1254–1256
  12. ^ A. Ribas and JC Casanova: Helminth fauna of Talpa spp. in the Palearctic Realm. Journal of Helminthology 80, 2006, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1079 / JOH2005328
  13. ↑ a b 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
  14. ↑ 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
  15. ^ Sergei Ulyanovich Stroganow: New forms of insectivorous mammals. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR 44 (3), 1944, pp. 120-122
  16. ↑ a b 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
  17. ↑ Haluk Kefelıoğlu and Solmaz Gençoğlu: Karadeniz bölgesi Talpa (Mammalia, Insectivora) 'larının taksonomisi yayılışı. Turkish Journal of Zoology 20, 1996, pp. 57-66
  18. ^ Atilla Arslan and Jan Zima: Karyotypes of the mammals of Turkey and neighboring regions: a review. Folia Zoologica 63 (1), 2014, pp. 1–62, doi: 10.25225 / fozo.v63.i1.a1.2014
  19. ↑ P. Colangelo, AA Bannikova, B. Kryštufek, VS Lebedev, F. Annesi, E. Capanna and A. Loy: Molecular systematics and evolutionary biogeography of the genus Talpa (Soricomorpha: Talpidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55, 2010, pp. 372-380
  20. ↑ 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
  21. ^ Boris Kryštufek: Talpa caucasica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016. e.T41480A22321383 ( [2] ); last accessed on July 27, 2020

Web links

Commons : Talpa caucasica  - Collection of images, videos and audio files