Talpa levantis, Thomas, 1906

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2018, Talpidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 52-619 : 610-611

27.

Levant Mole

Talpa levantis

French: Taupe du Levant / German: SchwarzmeerMaulwurf / Spanish: Topo oriental

Other common names: Levantine Mole

Taxonomy. Talpa caeca levantis Thomas, 1906 ,

“Scalita [= Antidere], S. of Trebizond [= Trabzon],” Turkey.

Talpa levantis is in subgenus Talpa and europaea species group. Although 71. levantis was described as a subspecies of T. caeca and long treated as such, these two moles are not

sister species. In a phylogenetic tree constructed from nucleotide sequences, 7. levantis holds a sister position with a monophyletic lineage containing 7. europaea and several southern European endemics (1. occidentalis , I. caeca , 1. romana , and 1. stankovici ). Molecular analysis retrieved further substructuring within 7. levantis . The Eastern lineage occurs in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and extreme northeastern Turkey and the Western lineage

occurs along the Black Sea coast and in the Marmara region of north-western Turkey. The two lineages diverged more than two million years ago and evidently belong to distinct species. Molecular makeup of 7. levantis from its type locality is still unknown, which prevents proper nomenclatural solution for these two lineages. Small blind moles from Thrace in Bulgaria and Turkey do not belong to 7. levantis but represent an undescribed species more related to 1. europaea . Most biological information relates to the Eastern lineage of 1. levantis . Taxonomy requires reassessment. Monotypic.

Distribution. S European Russia (S of Kuban and Terek rivers), Georgia, Armenia (as far S as Lake Sevan), W Azerbaijan, and the Black Sea (Pontic) coast of N Anatolia (Turkey); range in N Anatolia is discontinuous with a gap about of 200 km between Zonguldak and Sinop; population around Lake Van is obviously isolated.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 82-125 mm (males) and 84-123 mm (females), tail 23-37 mm (males) and 20-37 mm (females), hindfoot 14-5-20 mm; weight 22-65 g (males) and 21-67 g (females). Sexual dimorphism is slight or even absent, and males are only up to 5% heavier than females. The Levant Mole is one of the smallest species of Talpa , but size varies among regions; e.g. moles from Central Caucasus are 85% heavier than those from north-western Caucasus. Levant Moles tend to be larger at higher elevations and smaller where sympatric with the larger Caucasian Mole (7. caucasica ). Fur of the Levant Mole is blackish gray or black, feet are pale, and front claws are whitish. Tip of snoutis light, but rhinarium is black. Eyes are under skin. Pelvis is cecoidal. Skull is narrow and delicate, with slender rostrum. Molars are relatively broad, and I' is large, just like in the Blind Mole (7. caeca ); mesostyle on M' is not distinctly bifurcate. Dental formulais13/3,C1/1,P 4/4, M 3/3 (x2) = 44. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 34, FN = 68, and FNa = 64.

Habitat. Various habitats, typically with deep and damp soil, from sea level to elevations of ¢.2400 m. In Asiatic Turkey, the Levant Mole occurs in sandy beaches along the Black Sea, meadows, farmland, deciduous and coniferous forests, and clearings on coastal slopes. Wide range of habitats is also occupied in the Caucasus, but deciduous forests of oak ( Quercus ) and beech ( Fagus ), both Fagaceae , are preferred. Distribution is sporadic above timberline where Levant Moles are restricted to humid depressions. In western Azerbaijan, they were abundant in mixed forests of hornbeam ( Carpinus , Betulaceae ) and beech at elevations of 1770-1800 m but scarce at elevations of 700-1600 m. Proximity to water is important in the Caucasus and Anatolia, so Levant Moles are most abundant in river valleys, along streams, and around lakes. The smaller Levant Mole is sympatric with the Caucasian Mole, which is more abundant. The two species were captured in the same galleries in the northern Caucasus. At Lake Van, the Levant Mole is sympatric with Pere David’s Mole (71. davidiana ).

Food and Feeding. In the Caucasus, 96% of stomachs of Levant Moles contained insects, and 62% contained earthworms (LLumbricidae); proportions remained constant over two years. In the sympatric Caucasian Mole, earthworms were the main prey. Most common insects eaten by Levant Moles were caterpillars, particularly of owlet moths ( Noctuidae ). Larval insects were more abundant in diets than adult insects.

Breeding. Breeding of the Levant Mole occurs from late February to March in the northern Caucasus but starts earlier under milder climate of Transcaucasia. Females have a single litter of 2-5 young (mean 3-7). Postnatal growth is fast, and by late May, young reach an average head-body length of 93-7 mm and weigh 34 g, which is only 10 g less than adult weight. In early July, more than 50% (58% in the Western Caucasus) of Levant Moles in the population were young-of-the-year. Young attain sexual maturity at c.11 months old. Longest recorded age was six years.

Activity patterns. Levant Moles dig deep and surface tunnels. Surface tunnels are deeper (10-15 cm) in subalpine meadows and shallower in forests where they descend only few centimeters below the ground’s surface or frequently arejust raised soft soil. Permanent tunnels are up to 50 cm deep. As with other species of moles, activity is around the clock, with one peak in morning (05:00-07:00 h) and another one in evening.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Density of Levant Moles in forest habitat in Lesser Caucasus was 42 ind/ha. Up to seven moles were captured in the same tunnel.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Levant Mole is included into the red book of Kabardino-Balkaria and Chechnya (Russian Federation).

Bibliography. Bannikova, Zemlemerova, Colangelo et al. (2015), Colangelo et al. (2010), Dogramaci (1989a, 1989b), Kefelioglu & Gencoglu (1996), Krystufek (2001a, 2001b), Krystufek & Vohralik (2001), Sokolov & Tembotov (1989), Tembotov (1972), Vereshchagin (1967), Zaitsev (1999), Zaitsev et al. (2014).

Figures

22. Altai Mole (Talpa altaica), 23. Pere David’s Mole (Talpa davidiana), 24. Talysch Mole (Talpa talyschensis), 25. Ognev’s Mole (Talpa ognevi), 26. Caucasian Mole (Talpa caucasica), 27. Levant Mole (Talpa levantis), 28. Balkan Mole (Talpa stankovici), 29. Blind Mole (Talpa caeca), 30. Roman Mole (Talpa romana), 31. Iberian Mole (Talpa occidentalis), 32. European Mole (Talpa europaea), 33. Aquitanian Mole (Talpa aquitania), 34. Japanese Mountain Mole (Oreoscaptor mizura), 35. Ussuri Mole (Mogera robusta), 36. Large Japanese Mole (Mogera wogura), 37. Small Japanese Mole (Mogera imaizumii), 38. Sado Mole (Mogera tokudae), 39. Echigo Mole (Mogera etigo), 40. Senkaku Mole (Mogera uchidai), 41. Insular Mole (Mogera insularis), 42. Kano’s Mole (Mogera kanoana), 43. La Touche’s Mole (Mogera latoucher), 44. Himalayan Mole (Ewroscaptor micrurus), 45. Greater Chinese Mole (Euroscaptor grandis), 46. Long-nosed Mole (Euroscaptor longurostris), 47. Kloss’s Mole (Euroscaptor klosst), 48. Kuznetsov’s Mole (Euroscaptor kuznetsovi), 49. Orlov’s Mole (Euroscaptor orlovi), 50. Vietnamese Mole (Euroscaptor subanura), 51. Small-toothed Mole (Euroscaptor parvidens), 52. Malaysian Mole (Euroscaptor malayanus), 53. White-tailed Mole (Parascaptor lewcurus), 54. Short-faced Mole (Scaptochirus moschatus)

Distribution. S European Russia (S of Kuban and Terek rivers), Georgia, Armenia (as far S as Lake Sevan), W Azerbaijan, and the Black Sea (Pontic) coast of N Anatolia (Turkey); range in N Anatolia is discontinuous with a gap about of 200 km between Zonguldak and Sinop; population around Lake Van is obviously isolated.