Talpa (mammal) explained

Talpa is a genus in the mole family Talpidae. Among the first taxa in science,^[1] Carolus Linnaeus used the Latin word for "mole", 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. These moles eat earthworms, insects, and other invertebrates found in the soil.

The females of this genus have rudimentary male features such as Cowper's glands and a two-lobed prostate. A group of scientists has suggested that they are true hermaphrodites;^[2] however, others state that they are fully functional females.^[3]

There are 14 species in this genus:

• Altai mole, T. altaica
• Aquitanian mole, T. aquitania^[4]
• Blind mole, T. caeca
• Caucasian mole, T. caucasica
• Père David's mole, T. davidiana
• European mole, T. europaea
• T. hakkariensis^[5]
• 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, several extinct species are known from fossil remains, here the list:

• †Talpa tyrrhenica T. tyrrhenica

The current phylogeny of the species in the genus is shown below:

Notes and References

1. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Linnaeus_-_Regnum_Animale_%281735%29.png Table of the Animal Kingdom (Regnum Animale) from Carolus Linnaeus's first edition (1735) of Systema Naturae
2. Sánchez . A . Bullejos . M . Burgos . M . Hera . C . Stamatopoulos . C . Diaz De la Guardia R . Jiménez . R . Females of four mole species of genus Talpa (Insectivora, mammalia) are true hermaphrodites with ovotestes . Molecular Reproduction and Development . 44 . 3 . 289–294 . 1998-12-07 . 8858598 . 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2795(199607)44:3<289::AID-MRD2>3.0.CO;2-I . 20975321 .
3. Beolchini . F . Rebecchi . L . Capanna . E . Bertolani . R . Female gonad of moles, genus Talpa (Insectivora, mammalia): ovary or ovotestis? . J Exp Zool . 2000-06-01 . 286 . 1 . 745–54 . 10.1002/(SICI)1097-010X(20000601)286:7<745::AID-JEZ9>3.0.CO;2-F . 10797327. free .
4. Nicolas. Violaine. Martínez-Vargas. Jessica. Hugot. Jean-Pierre. 2017. Talpa aquitania sp. nov. (Talpidae, Soricomorpha), a new mole species from SW France and N Spain. Mammalia. 81. 6. 641–642. 10.1515/MAMMALIA-2017-0057. 90926022.
5. News: 2023-08-11 . Two new types of mole unearthed in Turkey . en-GB . BBC Newsround . 2023-08-12.