16.

Visagie’s Golden Mole

Chrysochloris visagier

French: Taupe-dorée de Visagie / German: Visagie-Goldmull / Spanish: Topo dorado de Visagie

Taxonomy. Chrysochloris visagiet Broom, 1950,

“Gouna, b4 miles [= 87 km] east of Calvinia,” Northern Cape Province, South Africa .

Chrysochloris visagieir is of uncertain taxonomic placement (incertae sedis) and might be an aberrant C. asiatica . Additional specimens are needed to clarify taxonomy. Monotypic.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Northern Cape Province, W South Africa.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 106 mm, hindfoot 12 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Dorsum of Visagie’s Golden Mole is pale tawny olive; venter is paler. Underfur is pale slate-gray, hidden by long tawny tips. Facial hairs are slightly paler than rest of body, and below the nose, it is much paler.

Habitat. Alluvial sand floodplains of the Bushmanland Nama Karoo.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red Lust. Provenance of the type specimen of Visagie’s Golden Mole is uncertain, and it has only been seen once (no specimens have been seen or collected since its description).

Bibliography. Bronner (2013b, 2016), Broom (1950).