moles
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European mole ( Talpa europaea ) |
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| Talpidae | ||||||||||||
| Fischer , 1817 |
The moles (Talpidae) are a family of mammals from the order of the insect eater (Eulipotyphla). They include around 50 species distributed in Eurasia and North America , with the European mole being the only species living in Central Europe. Many but not all moles lead an underground burrowing way of life. In addition, the water-dwelling desmans and some shrew- like species that mostly live above ground (the shrew moles , the Japanese and the American shrew moles ) also belong to this group.
features
European moles, like all representatives of the real moles, show a physique that is well adapted to the underground way of life.
General physique
Moles are generally rather small animals, they reach a head trunk length of 6 to 22 centimeters and a weight of 9 to 170 grams. (The largest mole is the Russian Desman , the smallest representatives are the shrew-like species.) The tail length is variable: in the burrowing species it is comparatively short, often it is only covered with a few hairs that act as whiskers and provide orientation allow rear. In the shrew-like species and the Desmanen, however, the tail is the same length as the body; in the latter, it is flattened to enable faster movement in the water.
The trunk of the mole is cylindrical, the pointed head sits on a very short neck in which the second to fourth cervical vertebrae are fused. The fur of the underground species consists only of wool hair without a line and therefore gives a soft, silky impression. This allows the animals to crawl forwards and backwards in their narrow passages. The Desmane, on the other hand, also have a water-repellent upper fur. The color of the fur varies from light gray through various shades of brown to black. All species have skin glands, the musk glands at the base of the tail of the Desmane are probably the most striking .
limbs
The limbs of the moles are short and each end in five clawed fingers or toes. The tibia and fibula are fused in the lower half.
The front limbs of the burrowing species are transformed into digging tools. The hands, which are turned with the palm outward, are shovel-shaped and end in five 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. These animals have 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. Moles have an additional sickle-shaped bone on their forehand that helps them dig.
The limbs of the Desmane, however, are adapted to the aquatic way of life of these animals with webbed feet and bristle-like hair. Like the small paws of the shrew-like species, they are only suitable for digging to a limited extent, although these animals can often build their own burrows.
Head and teeth
The skull of the mole is elongated and flat; characteristic is the long, trunk-shaped nose, which is very mobile and mostly hairless. The eyes of these animals are very small and partially covered by skin, auricles are missing in all species with the exception of the shrew moles .
| Tooth formula | I. | C. | P | M. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34-44 | = | 2-3 | 1 | 2-4 | 3 |
| 1-3 | 0-1 | 2-4 | 3 | ||
The teeth of the moles, like those of all insectivores, are provided with pointed humps and sharp melting strips and are well adapted to their carnivorous way of life. The number of teeth varies depending on the species from 34 to 44; some moles such as the European mole have retained the original number of teeth of the higher mammals with 44 teeth . The structure and the arrangement vary, but the molars are always dilambdodont (w-shaped arrangement of the cusps). The deciduous teeth are often replaced by permanent teeth before birth or shortly afterwards.
The sense of smell plays an important role in sensory perception . The snout region is rich in tactile cells , the so-called Eimer's organs (after Theodor Eimer ). This means that they can probably perceive not only tactile stimuli, but also electrical stimuli. This means that they can use it to feel the weak electrical fields that arise when the prey animals' muscles move. This organ is most pronounced in the finger-shaped skin appendages of the star mole rat .
The hearing is also well developed despite the lack of auricle, the sense of sight on the other hand plays only a subordinate role - most species should only be able to differentiate between light and dark.
Internal anatomy
The digestive system is very simple in construction as with all insectivores. The intestine is a simple tube and very short compared to the length of the body, the appendix is absent. 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
Moles are found exclusively in the northern hemisphere and predominantly inhabit the temperate zones of Eurasia and North America . In Eurasia they are distributed from Great Britain and the Iberian Peninsula over large parts of central Europe and Asia to Japan and the Malay Peninsula , in North America they occur from southern and eastern Canada to northern Mexico . They inhabit different habitats, but are absent in polar and subpolar regions as well as in overly dry areas and pronounced high mountain regions .
Way of life
Life forms
The underground burrowing moles spend most of their life in a self-dug underground system of passages. The excavated material is usually brought to the surface in the form of molehills . Depending on the type and habitat, these tunnels can extend just below the surface or at greater depths. In cooler regions, moles often stay at a greater depth in winter than during the warmer months. These animals create one or more nest chambers that are padded with plant material and are usually lower than the corridors.
Moles have a certain share in soil formation (pedogenesis) through their burial activity (as representatives of the fodent - burrowing - Edaphon ; see also megafauna or shovel graves ). They sometimes contribute to the mixing of the humus Ah horizons of the soils in the context of bioturbation . They also move humus-free subsoil material to the top. Due to their loosening influence on the soil structure, they also promote aeration and also conditionally drainage.
Most of the species should be able to swim if necessary; aquatic species such as the Desmane and the starling gull even seek some of their food at the bottom of water. The shrew moles and shrew moles inhabit the earth's surface to a greater extent. They only dig burrows and not complex duct systems and mostly look for food above ground. They can even climb bushes and sometimes make their nests there too.
Social behavior and activity times
Like most insectivores, moles are usually solitary animals and react aggressively to other animals. Only a few species share duct systems with conspecifics who will only tolerate them in their vicinity if there is plenty of food. The species that sometimes live in small groups include, for example, the desmane and the star mole rat.
Like many other underground animals, moles do not have a distinct day-night rhythm. In the case of the European mole , for example, the activity time is divided into three waking and sleeping phases, with the waking phases usually being in the morning, in the afternoon and around midnight, each lasting around 4 to 5 hours. Above-ground moles can also be active during the day as well as at night, although nocturnal activity often predominates.
Moles do not hibernate . Animals that live in cooler regions retreat to deeper layers of the earth or store food during the winter months. The European mole hoards earthworms in its burrows. In doing so, he bites off the front body segments so that they cannot escape but stay alive.
nutrition
The search for food can be done in several ways: digging in the ground, roaming the tunnels, searching on the surface of the earth or (in the case of Desmanas and star mole rats) in the water. Which method is used depends, among other things, on the species, the nature of the soil, the season, but also on the experience of the animal. The diet consists mainly of annelids , earthworms and insects and their larvae. Other invertebrates and occasionally small vertebrates complete the menu. To a lesser extent, they also consume plants (mainly their subterranean parts). Moles have a high metabolic rate and have to eat a lot every day. It is known of the European mole that it does not survive longer breaks (12 to 24 hours without food) and that it consumes almost half of its own weight in food every day.
Reproduction and Life Expectancy
Most species reproduce once a year, usually giving birth in the spring months. The gestation period is between 28 and 50 days and the litter size one to nine. Newborns are hairless and helpless at first, but grow quickly. After around 21 days, their eyes open and after three to eight weeks they are weaned. Sexual maturity occurs in the second half of life, so that they reproduce for the first time in the year after birth.
Life expectancy is relatively low and is unlikely to exceed three to six years for very few animals.
Moles and people
etymology
The term "Mole" (from Middle High German moltwërf , for Talpa europaea) has nothing to do with "Maul". Kluge / Götze suspect the origin in the Old High German "mū-wërf", where "mū" = pile and "wërf" = throw. “The first part of the word had no relatives in German, which is why there was room for reinterpretations”, for example to “ mul ” = garbage, dust, which in High German ultimately became “Maul” in folk etymology . The word part “Mull” can still be found in some species of mole such as the star mole and the pointed mole . Not related, ecologically but similar living animals carry this designation as the marsupial mole , the zokor that fukomys , the mole rats , the golden moles or Gürtelmulle .
threat
In earlier times, some species of mole were hunted for their fur, but this practice is no longer relevant today. Today's conflicts between humans and moles are mainly based on the burial activity of these animals. Although most species are carnivores and do not consume plant-based foods, their burrowing way of life can cause damage to plant roots. It is not uncommon for rats and mice to use the passages dug through them to get to the roots and tubers. The hills and tunnels can sometimes damage mowing and harvesting equipment. In many cases, there are purely visual reasons that make moles appear "annoying". Sometimes the animals are followed by farmers for these reasons. Habitat destruction is also a threat to some species.
The IUCN lists two species as " critically endangered " and eight species as endangered or vulnerable .
Cultural references
The mole's burial activity was the inspiration for the name “mole” for an informant who sneaked into an organization camouflaged and there (covertly) obtained information for his clients or even influenced the organization in the interests of his masterminds - see mole (agent) .
In animated films and children's literature there are some well-known fictional moles, such as the character The Little Mole by Zdeněk Miler or one of the main characters in the children's book classic The Wind in the Pastures by Kenneth Grahame and The Mole Grabowski from the children's book of the same name by Luis Murschetz .
In the field of animal fantasy, the work The Stone of Duncton by the English author William Horwood , in which moles play the main characters, is considered a classic of this genre.
In the children's television of the German television station came next to figures such. B. Mr. Fuchs and Mrs. Elster , the raven master Schwarzrock in the fairy tale forest, also those of the mole nimble .
Systematics
The European mole is one of nine 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 body structure and a similar way of life, it forms the genus group of the real moles (Talpini).
External system
The moles are integrated into the order of the insect eater (Eulipotyphla). This order has a taxonomically highly controversial history, taxa have been incorporated or removed again and again. For a long time, a close relationship between moles and shrews was considered likely. Molecular genetic studies , however, see the moles as a sister group of a common taxon made up of hedgehogs and shrews. Because of the unsafe position of the hedgehogs, these research results are controversial.
Internal system
The tripartite division of moles into subterranean burrowing species, water-dwelling desmans and above-ground, shrew-like animals does not correspond to the ancestry relationships, based on morphological criteria. The shrew moles are likely to be the sister group of the other moles, the shrew- like Japanese and American shrew moles - which for their part are not particularly closely related to each other, but are closer to the burrowing actual moles of the Old World. These burrowing actual moles are also more closely related to the Desmanes than to the New World moles, which are also burrowing , so that in the evolution of the moles there must have been at least two development of highly specialized, underground graves.
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Internal systematics of moles according to He et al. 2016
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The following overview shows the internal system down to the genre level:
- Subfamily Uropsilinae
- Shrew moles ( Uropsilus ), 7 species
- Subfamily talpinae (Talpinae)
- Tribe Condylurini
- Star-nosed mole ( Condylura cristata )
- Tribus New World Moles (Scalopini)
- Hairy-tailed mole ( Parascalops breweri )
- East American mole ( Scalopus aquaticus )
- Gansu mole ( Scapanulus oweni )
- West American moles ( Scapanus ), 3 species
- Tribus Desmane (Desmanini)
- Russian desman ( Desmana moschata )
- Pyrenean desman ( Galemys pyrenaicus )
- Tribe Neurotrichini
- American pointed mole rat ( Neurotrichus gibbsii )
- Tribe Scaptonychini
- Long-tailed mole ( Scaptonyx fusicaudus )
- Tribe Real Moles (Talpini)
- Southeast Asian moles ( Euroscaptor ), 9 species
- Japanese mountain mole ( Oreoscaptor mizura )
- East Asian moles ( Mogera ), 9 species
- White-tailed mole ( Parascaptor leucura )
- Short-faced mole ( Scaptochirus moschatus )
- Eurasian moles ( Talpa ), 14 species, including the European mole ( T. europaea )
- Tribus Japanese pointed mole rat (Urotrichini)
- True pointed mole rat ( Dymecodon pilirostris )
- Japanese pointed mole rat ( Urotrichus talpoides )
- Tribe Condylurini
For a long time the New World moles (Scalopini) were considered to be an independent subfamily called Scalopinae and also contained the star mole (Condylurini) as an independent tribe. This classical structure is contrasted with molecular genetic studies, which understand the New World Moles and the Old World Moles (Talpinae) as a monophyletic group. The Scalopinae were therefore dissolved and added to the Old World Moles. At the same time the star mole proved to be more closely related to the Desmanen (Desmanini), both groups together form the sister group of the actual moles (Talpini). Sometimes the long-tailed mole (Scaptonychini) is also placed as a sub-tribus Scaptonychina within the Japanese pointed mole (Urotrichini) and forms the counterpart to the Urotrichina. Due to the close genetic relationship, the American pointed mole rat ( Neurotrichus ) is also placed in this sub- tribus .
Moles have been fossilized since the Eocene ; the oldest representative is the genus Eotalpa found in Europe . They have been recorded in North America since the Oligocene and in Asia since the Miocene .
literature
- Tom S. Kemp: The Origin and Evolution of Mammals. Reprinted edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2005, ISBN 0-19-850761-5 .
- 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 .
- Karlheinz Stierle : The mole in the field of view. In: Jürgen Link , Wulf Wülfing (Ed.): Movement and standstill in metaphors and myths. Case studies on the relationship between elementary knowledge and literature in the 19th century (= language and literature. Vol. 9). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-608-91251-7 , pp. 121-141.
- 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. 3rd edition, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
- Günter R. Witte : The mole. Talpa europaea (= The New Brehm Library. Vol. 637). Westarp Sciences, Magdeburg 1997, ISBN 3-89432-870-3 .
Web links
- Moles and European moles on Animal Diversity Web
- Information from the German Nature Conservation Union PDF, 87.5 kB
- University of Zurich: How the mole got its twelve fingers
- Mole in the garden - how it can be driven away in the guidebook build.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zurich researchers solve 6-finger mole puzzles.
- ^ F. Kluge, A. Götze: Etymological dictionary of the German language. Walter de Gruyter publishing house, Berlin 1951.
- ↑ Degree of endangerment of the individual species in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN ., Accessed on February 15, 2007
- ↑ Such as Christophe J. Douady, Pascale I. Chatelier, Ole Madsen, Wilfried W. de Jong, Francois Catzeflis, Mark S. Springer, Michael J. Stanhope: Molecular phylogenetic evidence confirming the Eulipotyphla concept and in support of hedgehogs as the sister group to shrews. In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 25 (1), 2002, ISSN 1055-7903 , pp. 200-209.
- ↑ Akio Shinohara, Kevin L. Campbell, Hitoshi Suzuki: Molecular phylogenetic relationships of moles, shrew moles, and desmans from the new and old worlds. In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 27 (2), 2003, pp. 247-258.
- ↑ a b Kai He, Akio Shinohara, Kristofer M. Helgen, Mark S. Springer, Xue-Long Jiang, Kevin L. Campbell: Talpid Mole Phylogeny Unites Shrew Moles and Illuminates Overlooked Cryptic Species Diversity. In: Molecular Biology and Evolution. 34 (1), 2016, pp. 78–87
- ↑ after Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Ed.): Mammal Species of the World. 3. Edition. 2005.
- ↑ 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 ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4
- ↑ AA Bannikova, ED Zemlemerova, VS Lebedev, D. Yu. Aleksandrov, Yun Fang and BI Sheftel: Phylogenetic Position of the Gansu Mole Scapanulus oweni Thomas, 1912 and the Relationships Between Strictly Fossorial Tribes of the Family Talpidae. Doklady Biological Sciences 464, 2015, pp. 230–234 @