The Scalopini are a

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 is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

moles Moles can refer to: * Moles de Xert, a mountain range in the Baix Maestrat comarca, Valencian Community, Spain *The Moles (Australian band) *The Moles, alter ego of Scottish band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound People * Abraham Moles, French engin ...

belonging to 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 ...

. They include all the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

moles apart from the strikingly distinctive

star-nosed mole The star-nosed mole (''Condylura cristata'') is a small semiaquatic mole found in moist, low areas in the northern parts of North America. It is the only extant member of the tribe Condylurini and genus ''Condylura'', and it has more than 25, ...

. As the similarity of the names implies, they are the standard form of the

Scalopinae The Scalopinae, or New World moles, are one of three subfamilies of the family Talpidae, which consists of moles and mole-like animals; the other two subfamilies being the Old World talpids (the Talpinae) and the Chinese shrew-like moles ( Urops ...

, the

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 th ...

n or New World moles, and can be found virtually anywhere north of Northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and south of Northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

where environmental factors (chiefly the presence of soil) permit. Although the morphological differences between the Scalopini and the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by thei ...

moles are not very apparent to non-experts, they were significant enough for the

Gansu mole The Gansu mole (''Scapanulus oweni'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae endemic to central China, where it occurs in Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai. It is the only species in the genus ''Scapanulus''. Along with the Medog mol ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

to be taken out of that group and added to the Scalopini in 1938, and in 2021 the

Medog mole The Medog mole (''Alpiscaptulus medogensis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Alpiscaptulus''. It is endemic to Tibet, where it is only found in the vicinity of Namcha Barwa in Medog County. ...

was also described from China. How New World moles came to live in China was long a mystery, but analyses indicate that the Scalopini originated in

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...

and later migrated to North America during the

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

and diversified there. However, the Gansu and Medog moles are not descendants of the original Old World Scalopini, but rather of New World Scalopini that migrated back to Eurasia; the

hairy-tailed mole The hairy-tailed mole (''Parascalops breweri''), also known as Brewer's mole, is a medium-sized North American mole. It is the only member of the genus ''Parascalops''. The species epithet ''breweri'' refers to Thomas Mayo Brewer, an American na ...

of North America is more closely related to them than it is to other North American moles. The Scalopini are thought to have migrated from North America back to Eurasia at least two different times. This has prompted scientists to occasionally hesitate to continue calling the Scalopini "New World moles" without some caveat to acknowledge this fact. As a result, the Scalopini are sometimes called "New World moles and relatives". There are five genera in the Scalopini: *'' Alpiscaptulus'', the Medog mole of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

*''

Parascalops The hairy-tailed mole (''Parascalops breweri''), also known as Brewer's mole, is a medium-sized North American mole. It is the only member of the genus ''Parascalops''. The species epithet ''breweri'' refers to Thomas Mayo Brewer, an American na ...

'', the hairy-tailed mole of northeastern

*''

Scalopus The Eastern Mole or Common Mole (''Scalopus aquaticus'') is a medium-sized North American mole. It is the only member of genus ''Scalopus''. It is found in forested and open areas with moist sandy soils in northern Mexico, the eastern Unite ...

'', the common and widely distributed

eastern mole The Eastern Mole or Common Mole (''Scalopus aquaticus'') is a medium-sized North American mole. It is the only member of genus ''Scalopus''. It is found in forested and open areas with moist sandy soils in northern Mexico, the eastern Unite ...

* ''

Scapanulus The Gansu mole (''Scapanulus oweni'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae endemic to central China, where it occurs in Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai. It is the only species in the genus ''Scapanulus''. Along with the Medog m ...

'', the Gansu mole of north-central

* '' Scapanus'', five species of moles found west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

In addition, these fossil genera are also known: * †'' Domninoides'' * †'' Leptoscaptor'' * †'' Mioscalops'' * †'' Proscapanus'' * †'' Scapanoscapter'' * †'' Yanshuella'' * †'' Yuroscaptor'' Some evidence supports dividing the extant members of this genus into two

subtribes Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plant ...

: Scalopina (containing ''Scalopus'' and ''Scapanus'') and Parascalopina (containing ''Alpiscaptulus'', ''Parascalops'', and ''Scapanulus''). The extinct ''Proscapanus'' likely represents a basal member falling outside both tribes, ''Scapanoscapter'' could belong in the Scalopina, and the other fossil genera, while of uncertain placement, could potentially belong in the Parascalopina.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3822728 Talpidae Mammal tribes