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 use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

of moles belonging to the family

Talpidae The family (biology), family Talpidae () includes the true Mole (animal), moles (as well as the shrew moles and desmans) who are small insectivore, insectivorous mammals of the order (biology), order Eulipotyphla. Talpids are all fossorial, diggi ...

. They include all the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

moles apart from the strikingly distinctive

star-nosed mole The star-nosed mole (''Condylura cristata'') is a small semiaquatic mole (animal), mole found in moist, low elevation areas in the northeastern parts of North America. It is the only Extant taxon, extant member of the tribe Condylurini and genu ...

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

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

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

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and south of Northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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 coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

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

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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 a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

and later migrated to North America during the

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) 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 million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

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 ...

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''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

*'' Parascalops'', the hairy-tailed mole of northeastern

*'' Scalopus'', the common and widely distributed eastern mole * '' Scapanulus'', 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 great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

In addition, these fossil genera are also known: * †'' Domninoides'' * †'' Leptoscaptor'' * †'' Mioscalops'' * †'' Proscapanus'' * †'' Scapanoscapter'' * †'' Yanshuella'' * †'' Yuroscaptor'' * †'' Vulcanoscaptor'' 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). The first use of this word dates back to the late 19th century. An example of ...

: 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