Eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus) skeleton 2

The Eastern Mole or Common Mole (''Scalopus aquaticus'') is a medium-sized

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

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 ...

. It is the only member of genus ''Scalopus''. It is found in forested and open areas with moist sandy

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

s in northern

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, the

eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

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and the southwestern corner of

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. The eastern mole has grey-brown fur with silver-grey underparts, a pointed nose and a short tail. It is about in length including a long tail and weighs about . Its front paws are broad and spade-shaped, specialized for digging. It has 36 teeth. Its eyes are covered by fur and its ears are not visible. The eastern mole spends most of its time underground,

foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's Fitness (biology), fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Optimal foraging theory, Foraging theory is a branch of behaviora ...

in shallow

burrow An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of sh ...

s for

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

s, grubs,

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s, insect larvae and some plant matter. It is active year-round. It is mainly solitary except during mating in early spring. The female has a litter of two to five young in a deep underground burrow.

Subspecies

A majority of the moles throughout their range are ''Scalopus aquaticus aquaticus''. All the other subspecies exist in small pocket ranges.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1353759 Mammals described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Fauna of the Southeastern United States Mammals of Mexico Mammals of the United States Talpidae

Subspecies

See also

References

External links