The Snow Mountain shrew mole (''Uropsilus nivatus'') 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 is native to
Yunnan Province
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...
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 ...
and potentially
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. Its common name references
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (; Naxi: or ) is a mountain massif or small mountain range in Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, Lijiang, in Yunnan province, China. Its highest peak is named Shanzidou or Shan-Tzu-tou () and it is above sea level.
Etymo ...
, which is the type locality of the species. Aside from there, the only other confirmed specimen is from
Cang Mountain
Cangshan or Cang Mountain () is a mountain range immediately west of Dali City in Yunnan province of Southwest China.
The highest summit, Malong, is 4,122 m, but the range includes another 18 peaks that are over 3,500 m elevation.
History
The mo ...
.
It was formerly considered synonymous with the
gracile shrew mole
The gracile shrew mole (''Uropsilus gracilis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to China; populations known from Myanmar likely represent other species (see below).
The black-backed shrew mole (''U. atronates'') an ...
(''U. gracilis''), but a 2018 phylogenetic study found it to be a distinct species. The study found it to be the second most basal member of ''
Uropsilus
The shrew moles or shrew-like moles (''Uropsilus'') are shrew-like members of Talpidae, the mole family of mammals endemic to the forested, high-alpine region bordering China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They possess a long snout, a long slender tail, ...
'' (with only the
inquisitive shrew mole
The inquisitive shrew mole (''Uropsilus investigator'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is only known from Yunnan province of China, although its range is thought to extend over the border into Myanmar.
A 2018 phylogenetic st ...
, ''U. investigator'', being more basal), diverging from the rest of the genus during the early-mid
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58