Ognev's mole (''Talpa ognevi'') 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 ...

. It occurs in the southeastern coastal area of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

from northeastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. It inhabits different habitats associated with moist soils in lowland areas. Little information is available about its life history. Externally, Ognev's mole resembles the

Caucasian mole The Caucasian mole (''Talpa caucasica'') is a mammal in the family Talpidae that is endemic to the Caucasus Mountains of Russia and Georgia. Ognev's mole Ognev's mole (''Talpa ognevi'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It occ ...

(''T. caucasica''), which occurs further north, but is larger and has more robust teeth. It was scientifically named in 1944, but for a time it was considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''T. caucasica''. However, genetic analysis found major differences, and in 2018 Ognev's mole was recognized as an independent species. No data has yet been collected on the status of the population.

Taxonomy

Ognev's mole is a species of the genus ''

Talpa Talpa may refer to: Places * Talpa, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran * Talpa, Teleorman, a commune in Teleorman County, Romania * Talpa, a village in Cândeşti Commune, Botoşani County, Romania * Talpa, a village in Bârgăuani Commun ...

'', which contains Eurasian moles. The genus includes around a dozen other members, including the

European mole The European mole (''Talpa europaea'') is a mammal of the order Eulipotyphla. It is also known as the common mole and the northern mole. This mole lives in a tunnel system, which it constantly extends. It uses these tunnels to hunt its prey. Un ...

(''Talpa europaea'') as its most famous representative. The Eurasian moles belong to the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

of true moles (

Talpini Talpini is a tribe of mammals known as Old World Moles. It is a division of the subfamily Talpinae. This tribe contains the following genera and species: * Tribe Talpini ** Genus '' Euroscaptor'' *** Greater Chinese mole, ''E. grandis'' ** ...

) and the

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

(Talpidae). The true moles in turn include the mostly burrowing forms of the moles, while other members of the family only partially live underground, move above ground or have a semi-aquatic way of life.

Description

The first scientific description of Ognev's mole was made in 1944 by Sergei Uljanowitsch Stroganow under the name ''Talpa romana ognevi'' and thus as a subspecies of the

Roman mole The Roman mole (''Talpa romana'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in southern Italy. It was last recorded on Sicily in 1885. There is also an unconfirmed report about an isolated subpopulation in the Var region of sout ...

(''T. romana''). The comparatively larger size of the animals and their robust tooth structure compared to the

, which occurs further north, was primarily what motivated Stroganov to incorporate the new species into the Roman mole. As a type locality, he gave

Bakuriani Bakuriani ( ka, ბაკურიანი) is a daba and a ski resort in the Borjomi district of Georgia. It is located on the northern slope of the Trialeti Range, at an elevation of 1,700 meters (5,576 feet) above sea level. Geography The ...

in the region around

Borjomi Borjomi ( ka, ბორჯომი) is a resort town in south-central Georgia, 160 km from Tbilisi, with a population of 11,122 (2021). It is one of the municipalities of the Samtskhe–Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern p ...

in southern

. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

is formed by an adult male animal originating from there. In addition, Stroganov examined seven other individuals, some of which had been found in the vicinity of

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

. With the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

, Stroganow honored the Soviet zoologist Sergey Ivanovich Ognev. In 1989, Ognev's mole was designated as one of three subspecies of the Caucasian mole by Vladimir Sokolov. The distinction was based on size, as the body shape of Ognev's mole stood out as extremely distinctive from the other Caucasian moles. In line with the moles of the Caucasus region and southern Europe, Ognev's mole also has a caecoidal structure of the

sacrum The sacrum (plural: ''sacra'' or ''sacrums''), in human anatomy, is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part ...

(the opening of the foramen on the fourth sacral vertebra is directed backwards). This is a striking difference from the europaeoidal structure (the opening of the foramen on the fourth sacral vertebra is covered by a bone bridge) of the pelvic area in numerous Central and Western European moles. Molecular genetic studies since the 2010s have shown a relatively basal position of the Caucasian moles together with the

Altai mole The Altai mole or Siberian mole (''Talpa altaica'') is a species of mole in the family Talpidae. It is found throughout the taiga zone of south-central Siberia in Russia, as far south as northern Mongolia and Kazakhstan. This mole lives in fore ...

(''T. altaica'') within the Eurasian moles. The separation of this group dates back to the transition from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

to the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58 In 2015, genetic analyses showed a clear separation between the moles of the northern and southern Caucasus region. This was supported by the deep divergence between the two lines, which, according to the results, had been distinct since the end of the Pliocene around 3 to 2.5 million years ago. The authors of the study therefore suspected an independent position of Ognev's mole, but omitted a species position, as no genetic material from individuals from the type locality was available to them. Three years later, in the eighth volume of the standard work ''

Handbook of the Mammals of the World ''Handbook of the Mammals of the World'' (''HMW'') is a book series from the publisher Lynx Edicions. The nine volumes were published from 2009 to 2019. Each mammal family is assessed in a full text introduction with photographs and each species h ...

,'' Ognev's mole was granted species status. This separation from the Caucasian mole is also supported by individual

cytogenetic Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

data, since the largest

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

in Ognev's mole has two arms, whereas the Caucasian mole has an

acrocentric The centromere links a pair of sister chromatids together during cell division. This constricted region of chromosome connects the sister chromatids, creating a short arm (p) and a long arm (q) on the chromatids. During mitosis, spindle fibers a ...

structure.

Distribution and habitat

The distribution of Ognev's mole includes the southeastern coastal areas of the

. It occurs from the

Artvin Artvin (Laz language, Laz and ; hy, Արտուին, translit=Artuin) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is located on a hill overlooking the Çoruh, Çoruh River near the Deriner Dam ...

province in northeastern

to the neighboring areas of

to the north, where the habitat extends inland to the upper reaches of the Kura River. The northern limit of the distribution has not been adequately delineated. The animals prefer lowlands and river valleys near the coast. Higher areas are mostly inhabited by the

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

Levant mole The Levant mole (''Talpa levantis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey. There are two subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species ...

(''T. levantis transcaucasica''). Ognev's mole can be found in gardens, fields, and wooded landscapes with moist soils.

Characteristics

Anatomy

Ognev's mole reaches a head-trunk length of 13.4 to 14.2 cm, a tail length of 2.0 to 2.6 cm and a weight of 62 to 91 g. The

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

is only slightly pronounced, males are on average 5% heavier than females. With the specified dimensions, Ognev's mole is larger than the closely related

. Outwardly, both types are similar. Like all moles, they are characterized by a cylindrical and robust body, a short neck and shovel-like front feet. The coat color has a blackish gray to black hue. Occasionally, yellowish spots are formed on the muzzle, throat and chest. Similar to the Caucasian mole, but unlike the

(''Talpa europaea''), the eyes are covered with a translucent skin. The rear foot has a length of 1.8 to 2.0 cm.

Features of skull and teeth

The length of the skull varies between 33.6 and 35.0 mm, the width on the

zygomatic arch In anatomy, the zygomatic arch, or cheek bone, is a part of the skull formed by the zygomatic process of the temporal bone (a bone extending forward from the side of the skull, over the opening of the ear) and the temporal process of the zygomati ...

is 12.1 to 13.7 mm, and the

cranium The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

is 15.9 to 17.2 mm. It has a robust

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships * Ros ...

that is between 9.0 and 10.1 mm wide. The dentition has 44 teeth with the following tooth formula:

\frac

. Compared to the Caucasian mole, the upper

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...

are very strong. The upper row of teeth extends over 14.7 to 15.8 mm in length, of which the molars take up 6.0 to 7.4 mm. In proportion, the upper row of teeth takes up around 40% of the length of the skull.

Genetic characteristics

The diploid chromosome set is 2n = 38. It consists of 8 metacentric, 3 submetacentric, 2 subtelocentric and 5 teloacrocentric pairs of chromosomes. The largest chromosome has two arms. The

X chromosome The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes (allosomes) in many organisms, including mammals (the other is the Y chromosome), and is found in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and XO sex-d ...

is (sub) metacentric, the

Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

is speckled.

Life history

There is little information about the life history of Ognev's mole. Presumably it resembles that of the Caucasian mole.

Threats and conservation

Ognev's mole has not yet been registered by the IUCN. Information on the status of populations and protective measures is not available.

Literature

* Boris Kryštufek und Masaharu Motokawa: ''Talpidae (Moles, Desmans, Star-nosed Moles and Shrew Moles).'' In: Don E. Wilson und Russell A. Mittermeier (Hrsg.): ''Handbook of the Mammals of the World.'' Volume 8: ''Insectivores, Sloths, Colugos.'' Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2018, S. 552–620 (S. 610) ISBN 978-84-16728-08-4

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q93946410 Talpa Vertebrates of Georgia (country) Mammals of Turkey Fauna of Armenia Mammals described in 1944