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.

These mammals in the order Eulipotyphla mainly live under ground. The species in this group are all found in Eurasia, except Neurotrichus gibbsii. Most species have front paws specialized for tunneling which are clawed and face outwards from the body. They mainly eat insects and other small invertebrates.

Taxonomy

Although most systems recognize this subfamily as monophyletic, some studies indicate that it as currently defined is paraphyletic with respect to the Scalopinae, with Desmanini being the most basal member, then a clade comprising Neurotrichini, Scaptonychini, and Urotrichini, then the Condylurini (otherwise classified in the Scalopinae), and then Talpini and Scalopini being sister groups to one another.

The list of species is:

Subfamily Talpinae

Tribe Desmanini

Genus Desmana

• Russian desman, Desmana moschata

Genus Galemys

• Pyrenean desman, Galemys pyrenaicus

Tribe Neurotrichini

Genus Neurotrichus

• American shrew mole, Neurotrichus gibbsii

Tribe Scaptonychini

Genus Scaptonyx

• Long-tailed mole, Scaptonyx fusicauda

Tribe Talpini

Genus Euroscaptor

• Greater Chinese mole, 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, E. ngoclinhensis

• Orlov's mole, E. orlovi

• Small-toothed mole, E. parvidens

• Vietnamese mole, E. subanura

Genus Mogera

• Echigo mole, M. etigo

• Small Japanese mole, M. imaizumii

• Insular mole, M. insularis

• Kano's mole, M. kanoana

• La Touche's mole, M. latouchei

• Ussuri mole, M. robusta

• Sado mole, M. tokudae

• Senkaku mole, M. uchidai

• Japanese mole, M. wogura

Genus Oreoscaptor

• Japanese mountain mole, O. mizura

Genus Parascaptor

• White-tailed mole, P. leucura

Genus Scaptochirus - China

• Short-faced mole, S. moschatus

Genus Talpa

• Altai mole, T. altaica

• Aquitanian mole, T. aquitania

• Blind mole, 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

Tribe Urotrichini

Genus Dymecodon

• True's shrew mole, Dymecodon pilirostris

Genus Urotrichus

• Japanese shrew mole, Urotrichus talpoides

References

External links

• ADW - Talpinae