The

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 () includes the

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 ...

(some of whom are called shrew moles and

desman The desman, a snouted and naked-tailed diving insectivore of the tribe Desmanini (also considered a subfamily, Desmaninae), belongs to one of two Eurasian species of the mole family, Talpidae. This tribe consists of two monotypic genera of sem ...

s) who are small insectivorous mammals of the order

Eulipotyphla Eulipotyphla (, which means "truly fat and blind") is an order of mammals suggested by molecular methods of phylogenetic reconstruction, which includes the laurasiatherian members of the now-invalid polyphyletic order Lipotyphla, but not the afr ...

. Talpids are all digging animals to various degrees: moles are completely subterranean animals; shrew moles and

shrew-like moles The shrew moles or shrew-like moles (''Uropsilus'') are shrew-like members of 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, external ...

somewhat less so; and desmans, while basically aquatic, excavate dry sleeping chambers; whilst the quite unique

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, ...

is equally adept in the water and underground. Talpids are found across the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

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 archipelago a ...

and

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 ...

(although none are found in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

nor in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

south of northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

), and range as far south as the

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

regions of tropical

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. The first talpids evolved from

shrew Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fa ...

-like animals which adapted to digging late in the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

in Europe. '' Eotalpa anglica'' is the oldest known mole, it was discovered in the Late Eocene deposits of

Hampshire Basin The Hampshire Basin is a geological basin of Palaeogene age in southern England, underlying parts of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, and Sussex. Like the London Basin to the northeast, it is filled with sands and clays of Paleocene and yo ...

, UK. The most primitive living talpids are believed to be the

, with other species having adapted further into the subterranean, and, in some cases, aquatic lifestyles.

Characteristics

Talpids are small, dark-furred animals with cylindrical bodies and hairless, tubular snouts. They range in size from the tiny shrew moles of North America, as small as 10 cm in length and weighing under 12 grams, to the

Russian desman The Russian desman (''Desmana moschata'') (russian: выхухоль ''vykhukhol'') is a small semiaquatic mammal that inhabits the Volga, Don and Ural River basins in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. It constructs burrows into the banks of pond ...

, with a body length of 18–22 cm, and a weight of about 550 grams. The

fur 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 ...

varies between species, but is always dense and short; desmans have waterproof undercoats and oily

guard hair Guard hair or overhair is the outer layer of hair of most mammals, which overlay the fur. Guard hairs are long and coarse and protect the rest of the pelage (fur) from abrasion and frequently from moisture. They are visible on the surface of the fu ...

s, while the subterranean moles have short, velvety fur lacking any guard hairs. The forelimbs of moles are highly adapted for digging, with powerful claws, and the paws turned permanently outwards to aid in shovelling dirt away from the front of the body. By contrast, desmans have webbed paws with a fringe of stiff fur to aid in swimming. Moles generally have short tails, but those of desmans are elongated and flattened. All species have small eyes and poor eyesight, but only a few are truly blind. The external ears are very small or absent.Grzimek, Bernhard. ''Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Volume 10: Mammals I.'' New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1975. Print. Talpids rely primarily on their sense of

touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It is ...

, having sensory

vibrissa Vibrissae (; singular: vibrissa; ), more generally called Whiskers, are a type of stiff, functional hair used by mammals to sense their environment. These hairs are finely specialised for this purpose, whereas other types of hair are coarser ...

e on their faces, legs, and tails. Their flexible snouts are particularly sensitive. Desmans are able to close both their nostrils and ears while diving. Unusually, the

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males do n ...

of talpids points backwards, and they have no

scrotum The scrotum or scrotal sac is an anatomical male reproductive structure located at the base of the penis that consists of a suspended dual-chambered sac of skin and smooth muscle. It is present in most terrestrial male mammals. The scrotum cont ...

. Females have six or eight

teat A teat is the projection from the mammary glands of mammals from which milk flows or is ejected for the purpose of feeding young. In many mammals the teat projects from the udder. The number of teats varies by mammalian species and often corre ...

s. Both sexes have claws on all five fingers and on all five toes. The paw has an additional bone called the os falciforme. In burrowing moles, the

clavicle The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the rig ...

and the

humeral head The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a round ...

are connected. The

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

and the

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

are partially fused in all talpids. The pubis does not connect the two halves of the

pelvic girdle The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The p ...

. The

skull 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 long, narrow, and rather flattened. Talpids are generally insectivorous. Moles eat

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, insect larvae, and occasionally slugs, while desmans eat aquatic invertebrates such as shrimps, insect larvae, and

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

s. Talpids have relatively unspecialized teeth, with the

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolo ...

Behavior

Desmans and shrew moles are primarily

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 moles are active day and night, usually travelling above ground only under cover of darkness. Most moles dig permanent

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, and subsist largely on prey that falls into them. The shrew moles dig burrows to access deep sleeping chambers, but forage for food on the forest floor by night. Desmans dig burrows in riverbanks for shelter and forage in the water of rivers and lakes. The star-nosed mole is able to make a living much as other moles do, but are also very capable aquatic creatures, where they are able to smell underwater by using their unique proboscis to hold out a bubble of air into the water. Talpids appear to be generally quite antisocial animals, and although at least one species, the star-nosed mole, will share burrows, talpids are known to engage in much territorial behavior, including extraordinarily fast battles.

Classification

The family is divided into three subfamilies, 19 genera and 59 species. *Family Talpidae **Subfamily

Uropsilinae The shrew moles or shrew-like moles (''Uropsilus'') are shrew-like members of 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, external ...

- Asian shrew-like moles (Chinese shrew moles) *** Genus '' Uropsilus'' - eight species in China, Bhutan, and Myanmar **** Equivalent-teeth shrew mole, ''U. aequodonenia'' **** Anderson's shrew mole, ''U. andersoni'' **** Black-backed shrew mole, ''U. atronates'' **** Dabie Mountains shrew mole, ''U. dabieshanensis'' **** Gracile shrew mole, ''U. gracilis'' **** Inquisitive shrew mole, ''U. investigator'' **** Snow Mountain shrew mole, ''U. nivatus'' **** Chinese shrew mole, ''U. soricipes'' **Subfamily

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 ...

- New World moles *** Tribe

Condylurini ''Condylura'' is a genus of moles that contains a single extant species, the star-nosed mole ''(Condylura cristata)'' endemic to the northern parts of North America. It is also the only living member of the tribe Condylurini. While today endemic ...

- condylurine moles **** Genus ''

Condylura ''Condylura'' is a genus of moles that contains a single extant species, the star-nosed mole ''(Condylura cristata)'' endemic to the northern parts of North America. It is also the only living member of the tribe Condylurini. While today endemic ...

'' - one species in eastern North America *****

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, ...

, ''C. cristata'' *** Tribe

Scalopini The Scalopini are a tribe of moles belonging to the family Talpidae. They include all the New World moles apart from the strikingly distinctive star-nosed mole. As the similarity of the names implies, they are the standard form of the Scalopinae ...

- scalopine moles **** Genus '' Alpiscaptulus'' - one species in China *****

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. ...

, ''A. medogensis'' ****Genus ''

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 n ...

'' - one species in northeastern North America *****

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 ...

, ''P. breweri'' **** Genus ''

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 ...

'' - one species in eastern North America *****

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 United ...

, ''S. aquaticus'' **** Genus ''

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 ...

'' - one species in China *****

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 ...

, ''S. oweni'' **** Genus ''

Scapanus ''Scapanus'' is a genus of mole (animal), moles in the family Talpidae. They live in North America from west of the Rocky Mountains, Rockies south to Baja California, Baja California del Norte, and north to British Columbia, wherever conditions ...

'' - five species in western North America *****

Mexican mole The Mexican mole (''Scapanus anthonyi'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to Baja California in Mexico, where it is restricted to the highlands of the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir mountain range. Its specific epithet ...

, ''S. anthonyi'' *****

Northern broad-footed mole The northern broad-footed mole (''Scapanus latimanus'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to the United States, where it is found in northern California, Nevada and Oregon at elevations up to 3000 m above sea leve ...

, ''S. latimanus'' *****

Southern broad-footed mole The southern broad-footed mole (''Scapanus occultus'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found only in the U.S. state of California and northernmost Baja California in Mexico. Taxonomy It was formerly considered a subspecie ...

, ''S. occultus'' *****

Coast mole The coast mole or Pacific mole (''Scapanus orarius'') is a medium-sized North American mole found in forested and open areas with moist soils along the Pacific coast from southwestern British Columbia to northwestern California. Taxonomy Two su ...

, ''S. orarius'' *****

Townsend's mole The Townsend's mole (''Scapanus townsendii'') is a fossorial mammal in the family Talpidae, and is the largest North American mole. It was named after the American naturalist John Kirk Townsend. The name was selected at the request of Thomas Nut ...

, ''S. townsendii'' **Subfamily

Talpinae The subfamily Talpinae, sometimes called "Old World moles" or "Old World moles and relatives", is one of three subfamilies of the mole family Talpidae, the others being the Scalopinae, or New World moles, and the Uropsilinae, or shrew-like moles. ...

- Old World moles, desmans, and shrew moles *** Tribe

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'' ** ...

- talpine moles **** Genus ''

Euroscaptor ''Euroscaptor'' is a genus of mammal in the family Talpidae. Members are found in China and South & Southeast Asia. It contains the following species as of October 2021: * Greater Chinese mole (''Euroscaptor grandis'') * Kloss's mole (''Euros ...

'' - ten species in East, South, and Southeast Asia *****

Greater Chinese mole The greater Chinese mole (''Euroscaptor grandis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in China and potentially Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions r ...

, ''E. grandis'' ***** Kloss's mole, ''E. klossi'' ***** Kuznetsov's mole, ''E. kuznetsovi'' ***** Long-nosed mole, ''E. longirostris'' ***** Malaysian mole, ''E. malayanus'' ***** Himalayan mole, ''E. micrurus'' *****

Ngoc Linh mole The Ngoc Linh mole (''Euroscaptor ngoclinhensis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to central Vietnam. It was named after Ngọc Linh mountain, which it was first discovered in the vicinity of. Taxonomy ''E. ngocli ...

, ''E. ngoclinhensis'' ***** Orlov's mole, ''E. orlovi'' ***** Small-toothed mole, ''E. parvidens'' ***** Vietnamese mole, ''E. subanura'' **** Genus ''

Mogera ''Mogera'' is a genus of mammals in the family Talpidae. Moles in this genus differ from Old World moles in the genus ''Talpa'' in having one fewer pairs of lower incisors and in having larger hind premolars in the lower jaw. Species The gen ...

'' - nine species from East Asia *****

Echigo mole The Echigo mole (''Mogera etigo'') is an endangered species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to Japan, being found only on the Echigo plain, Niigata prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. N ...

, ''M. etigo'' *****

Small Japanese mole The small Japanese mole (''Mogera imaizumii'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to Japan. Even though they are extinct in central Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京� ...

, ''M. imaizumii'' *****

Insular mole The insular mole (''Mogera insularis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is restricted to Hainan Island and Taiwan, where it is also known as the Formosan blind mole. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863. ...

, ''M. insularis'' *****

Kano's mole Kano's mole (''Mogera kanoana'') is a species of mole endemic to Taiwan. The specific name ''kanoana'' is derived from Tadao Kano, a Japanese naturalist who made the first record of these animals in 1940s. It is found in the mountainous center ...

, ''M. kanoana'' *****

La Touche's mole La Touche's mole (''Mogera latouchei'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in eastern China and parts of northern Vietnam. It is named after Irish naturalist John David Digues La Touche. It was formerly considered a subs ...

, ''M. latouchei'' *****

Ussuri mole The Ussuri mole or large mole (''Mogera robusta''), is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae, formerlly treated as a subspecies of the Japanese mole. It is found in China, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia and lives in a long burrow, s ...

, ''M. robusta'' *****

Sado mole The Sado mole or Tokuda's mole (''Mogera tokudae'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to Sado Island is a city located on in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Since 2004, the city has comprised the entire island, altho ...

, ''M. tokudae'' *****

Senkaku mole The Senkaku mole (''Mogera uchidai''), also known as the Ryukyu mole, is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It was formerly classified as being the only species in the genus '' Nesoscaptor''. It is endemic to the Uotsuri-jima ( ja, 魚� ...

, ''M. uchidai'' *****

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 ...

, ''M. wogura'' **** Genus '' Oreoscaptor'' - one species in Japan ***** Japanese mountain mole, ''O. mizura'' ****Genus '' Parascaptor'' - one species in southern Asia *****

White-tailed mole The white-tailed mole (''Parascaptor leucura'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventi ...

, ''P. leucura'' **** Genus '' Scaptochirus'' - China ***** Short-faced mole, ''S. moschatus'' **** 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 Com ...

'' - twelve species, Europe and western Asia ***** Altai mole, ''T. altaica'' *****

Aquitanian mole The Aquitanian mole (''Talpa aquitania'') is a species of small burrowing mammal of the family Talpidae. It is found from the southwest of France to the north of Spain. Closely related to the European mole (''T. europaea''), this species was desc ...

, ''T. aquitania'' *****

Blind mole The blind mole (''Talpa caeca''), also known as the Mediterranean mole, is a mole found in the Mediterranean region. It is similar to the European mole, differing most prominently in having eyes covered with skin. It is found in Albania, France, ...

, ''T. caeca'' *****

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 Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Ge ...

, ''T. caucasica'' *****

Père David's mole Père David's mole (''Talpa davidiana'') is a mole found in the Middle East, ranging from south-central Turkey east to Kurdistan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country ...

, ''T. davidiana'' *****

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. U ...

, ''T. europaea'' *****

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'' *****

Martino's mole Martino's mole (''Talpa martinorum'') is a species of small blind mole in the family Talpidae found in eastern Thrace along the western Black Sea coast in south-eastern Bulgaria and north-eastern Turkey, mainly in the Strandzha mountain range. I ...

, ''T. martinorum'' *****

Spanish mole The Spanish mole (''Talpa occidentalis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in Spain and Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland i ...

, ''T. occidentalis'' *****

Ognev's mole Ognev's mole (''Talpa ognevi'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It occurs in the southeastern coastal area of the Black Sea from northeastern Turkey to Georgia. It inhabits different habitats associated with moist soils in lowland ...

, ''T. ognevi'' *****

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'' *****

Balkan mole The Balkan mole (''Talpa stankovici'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia and Greece, including the island of Corfu. References Talpa Mammals of Europe Mammals described i ...

, ''T. stankovici'' *****

Talysch mole The Talysch mole (''Talpa talyschensis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is a small member of the family, which outwardly resembles the Levant mole (''T. levantis''), but is genetically closer to Père David's mole (''T. da ...

, ''T. talyschensis'' *** Tribe Scaptonychini **** Genus '' Scaptonyx'' - one species in China and Myanmar ***** Long-tailed mole, ''S. fusicauda'' *** Tribe Desmanini - desmans **** Genus ''

Desmana ''Desmana'' is a genus of mole that contains a single living species, the Russian desman ''(Desmana moschata)''. A number of fossil species are known from throughout Eurasia. The oldest species is ''Desmana marci'' from the earliest Pliocene of ...

'' *****

, ''D. moschata'' **** Genus ''

Galemys ''Galemys'' is a genus of mole containing the living Pyrenean desman ''(Galemys pyrenaicus)'' and several fossil species. Many of these extinct species were far more widespread than the living species; for example, the Early Pleistocene ''Galemy ...

'' *****

Pyrenean desman The Pyrenean desman also called Iberian desman (''Galemys pyrenaicus'') is a small semiaquatic, globally threatened mammal related to moles and shrews, and, along with the Russian desman (''Desmana moschata''), is one of the two extant members ...

, ''G. pyrenaicus'' *** Tribe

Urotrichini Urotrichini is a tribe of the mole family, and consists of Japanese and American shrew-moles. They belong to the Old World moles and relatives branch of the mole family (Talpidae). There are only two species, each of which represents its own g ...

- Japanese shrew moles **** Genus '' Dymecodon'' *****

True's shrew mole True's shrew mole (''Dymecodon pilirostris'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to Japan (Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu) and is a common species above 1000 meters in grassland, shrubland and forest. Sometimes this speci ...

, ''D. pilirostris'' **** Genus '' Urotrichus'' *****

Japanese shrew mole The Japanese shrew mole (''Urotrichus talpoides'') or is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to Japan and is found on Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Awaji Island, Shodo Island, Oki Islands, Tsushima Island, Goto Islands, Mis ...

, ''U. talpoides'' *** Tribe

Neurotrichini Neurotrichini is a tribe within the subfamily Talpinae of the mole family. It includes the living genus '' Neurotrichus'' with a single living species, the American shrew-mole (''Neurotrichus gibbsii''). While today restricted to the New World, f ...

- New World shrew moles **** Genus ''

Neurotrichus ''Neurotrichus'' is a genus of shrew-like moles. It is classified, together with the fossil genus '' Quyania'', in the tribe Neurotrichini of the subfamily Talpinae. The only living species is the American shrew-mole (''N. gibbsii'') of the n ...

'' - Pacific northwest US, southwest British Columbia *****

American shrew mole The American shrew mole (''Neurotrichus gibbsii'') is the smallest species of mole. It is the only living member of the genus ''Neurotrichus'' and the tribe Neurotrichini. It is also known as Gibb's shrew mole and least shrew mole. It is not c ...

, ''N. gibbsii'' Some studies suggest that this classification into three subfamilies is not entirely accurate, finding

to be the most basal member, then Desmanini, then a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

comprising

, Scaptonychini, and

, then the

, and then

and

being

sister groups In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

to one another. The current classification into 3 subfamilies renders both

and

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

Unrelated mammals built like moles

The following mammals have burrowing habits, and have by virtue of

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

many derived characters in common with true moles from the family Talpidae but are nonetheless unrelated. *

Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae , are highly specialized marsupial mammals, known from two species found at the Australian interior. * ''Notoryctes typhlops'' (southern marsupial mole, known as the ''itjaritjari'' by the Pitjantjatjara and Yan ...

s (2 species): ''

Notoryctes typhlops The southern marsupial mole (''Notoryctes typhlops''), also known as the itjaritjari () or itjari-itjari, is a mole-like marsupial found in the western central deserts of Australia. It is extremely adapted to a burrowing way of life. It has large ...

'', and '' N. caurinus''. *

Golden mole Golden moles are small insectivorous burrowing mammals endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. They comprise the family Chrysochloridae and as such they are taxonomically distinct from the true moles, family Talpidae, and other mole-like families, all o ...

s (21 species), belonging to the

Afrotheria Afrotheria ( from Latin ''Afro-'' "of Africa" + ''theria'' "wild beast") is a clade of mammals, the living members of which belong to groups that are either currently living in Africa or of African origin: golden moles, elephant shrews (also know ...

Relationship with humans

All species in the family Talpidae are classed as "prohibited new organisms" under New Zealand's

Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO) is an Act of Parliament passed in New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North I ...

, preventing them from being imported into the country.

References