''Talpa''
is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
in the
mole 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 ...
. Among the first taxa in science, Carolus Linnaeus used the Latin word for "moles", ''talpa'', in his Regnum Animale to refer to the commonly known European form of mole. The group has since been expanded to include 13 extant species, found primarily in Europe and western Asia. The
European mole, found throughout most of Europe, is a member of this genus, as are several species restricted to small ranges. One species,
Père David's mole, is
data deficient
A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...
. These 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. T ...
s,
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...
s, and other
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...
s found in the soil.
The females of this genus have rudimentary male features such as
Cowper's gland
The bulbourethral glands or Cowper's glands (named for English anatomist William Cowper) are two small exocrine glands in the reproductive system of many male mammals (of all domesticated animals, they are absent only in dogs). They are homolog ...
s and a two-lobed
prostate
The prostate is both an accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found only in some mammals. It differs between species anatomically, chemically, and phys ...
. A group of scientists has suggested that they are true
hermaphrodites
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have sep ...
;
however, others state that they are fully functional females.
There are 13 species in this genus:
*
Altai mole, ''T. altaica''
*
Aquitanian mole, ''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, ''T. caucasica''
*
Père David's mole, ''T. davidiana''
*
European mole, ''T. europaea''
*
Levant mole, ''T. levantis''
*
Martino's mole, ''T. martinorum''
*
Spanish mole, ''T. occidentalis''
*
Ognev's mole, ''T. ognevi''
*
Roman mole, ''T. romana''
*
Balkan mole, ''T. stankovici''
*
Talysch mole, ''T. talyschensis''
In addition, one extinct species is known from
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
remains: the
Tyrrhenian mole (''Talpa tyrrhenica'') from the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
of
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
and
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...
.
The current phylogeny of the species in the genus is shown below:
References
External links
Talpa
Mammal genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{talpidae-stub