The Himalayan mole (''Euroscaptor micrurus'') or short-tailed mole is a species of mammal in the family

Talpidae The family Talpidae () includes the moles (some of whom are called shrew moles and desmans) who are small insectivorous mammals of the order Eulipotyphla. Talpids are all digging animals to various degrees: moles are completely subterranean ...

Taxonomy

The Malaysian mole (''E. malayanus'') of peninsular

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

was sometimes (erroneously) considered to be a population of the Himalayan mole accidentally introduced to the

Cameron Highlands The Cameron Highlands ( ms, Tanah Tinggi Cameron, , ta, கேமரன் மலை) is a district in Pahang, Malaysia, occupying an area of . To the north, its boundary touches that of Kelantan; to the west, it shares part of its border with ...

in the soil of tea imported from

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

, due to its highly disjunct range from any other mole species and it mostly being found around tea plantations. However, genetic studies have affirmed its status as a distinct species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to Malaysia.

Behaviour and habitat

The Himalayan mole is nocturnal and solitary in nature and lives in a burrow. It is found in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

, China,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. In Bangladesh, it was found from

Lawachara National Park Lawachara National Park ( bn, লাউয়াছড়া) is a major national park and nature reserve in Bangladesh. The park is located at Kamalganj Upazila, Moulvibazar District in the northeastern region of the country. It is located with ...

in 1980 and 2011. In March 2017, an individual was found in a tea garden in Sreemangal Upazila, Bangladesh.

References

Euroscaptor Mammals of Bhutan Mammals of China Mammals of India Mammals of Nepal Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Mammals described in 1841 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{talpidae-stub