The Ussuri mole or large mole (''Mogera robusta''), is a species of

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

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 a ...

, formerlly treated as a subspecies of the

Japanese mole The Japanese mole (''Mogera wogura''), also known as Temminck's mole, is a species of mole endemic to Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacifi ...

. It is found in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and lives in a long burrow, seldom emerging on the surface of the ground during the day.

Description

This mole grows to a total length of with a tail of about . It is adapted for underground life; the body is cylindrical, the fore-feet are spade-like, the nails are flattened and the eyes are small. The short, dense, dorsal pelage is brownish-grey with a metallic sheen and the underparts are silvery-yellow, with a grey patch on the chest. The bare skin on the muzzle and the feet is yellowish. The short tail is well-covered with hair.

Distribution and habitat

The Ussuri mole occurs in northeastern China, the Korean peninsula and southeastern Russia. Its typical habitat is montane forest and woodland, pasture and agricultural land but it is seldom found on steep rocky slopes.

Ecology

This mole is solitary and mainly

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

, but is sometimes active on cloudy or rainy days. It feeds mainly on earthworms, insects, spiders, slugs and snails. It excavates feeding passages about below the surface of the soil, periodically throwing up a "mole hill", a pile of soil on the surface. Main passages may have a total length of and be at least below the surface; they connect feeding areas with drinking places and the nest. The breeding chamber contains a globular nest of leaves and grasses. The litter size is from 2 to 6 young with a gestation period of 28 days. Ussuri moles live for up to four years, but sometimes fall prey to

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

s and

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bo ...

Conservation status

''Mogera robusta'' has a wide range and is said to be abundant in some areas and common in others. Although it used to be hunted for its

pelt Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

, this is no longer the case and it now faces no particular threats. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

" because, although its population may be in slow decline, this is not at a fast enough rate to warrant listing it in a more threatened category.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2661249 Mogera Mammals of China Mammals of Korea Mammals of Russia Taxa named by Alfred Nehring Mammals described in 1891 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot