Talpidae Author Russell A. Mittermeier Author Don E. Wilson text 2018 2018-07-31 Lynx Edicions Barcelona Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 8 Insectivores, Sloths and Colugos 52 619 book chapter 10.5281/zenodo.6678191 6e85855c-9cd4-46e9-b1e1-5a643c103c3f 978-84-16728-08-4 6678191 22. Altai Mole Talpa altaica French: Taupe de Sibérie / German: Altai-Maulwurf / Spanish: Topo de Altai Other common names: Siberian Mole Taxonomy. 7 Talpa altaica Nikolsky, 1883 , Valley of Tourak, Altai Mountain, Siberia Russian. lalpa altaica is in subgenus Asioscalops, ranked by some authors as a distinct genus. lalpa altaica is the steam species of Talpa . Up to 4-6 subspecies were recognized in the past, but their boundaries are not resolved. Monotypic. Distribution. W & C Siberia, from the Irtysh River Basin E to Baikal region and upper reaches of Lena River Basin, and from Yenisei River at 68-69°30’N S to Altai, Salair, and Sayan Mts, NE Kazakhstan, and NW Mongolia (N Great Lakes Depression and Hovsgol Mts). Descriptive notes. Head-body 124-232 mm, tail 20-34 mm, hindfoot 19-24-6 mm; weight up to 225 g. Males are larger than females. The Altai Mole is the largest species of Talpa , with short tail and broad rhinarium. Eyelids are not sealed; acoustic aperture is I mm in diameter. Furis light mouse gray, blackish gray, or deep brown, with buff tints along spine and on throat and chest. Albino individuals are rare. Pelvis has fourth sacral foramen open posteriorly. Skull differs from other species of Talpa with its extended nares and slit-like anteorbital foramen. Upper tooth row is short, accounting for 35-40% of condylo-basal length. Teeth are small, and upper premolars are nearly as large as upper molars; upper incisor is high and daggerlike; and M' is narrow, with small protocone. Dental formulais13/3,C1/1,P4/4,M 3/3 (x2) = 44. Due to frequent supernumerary, absent, and connate teeth, actual dental formula is between 34 and 47, and 23% of Altai Moles have numbers of teeth that deviate from 44. Missing premolars are the most common anomaly, followed by connate teeth and supernumerary teeth. Habitat. Forest-steppe mosaic, deciduous and mixed forests, southern taiga, and alpine pastures up to elevations of 2000-3500 m. The Altai Mole is widespread in forests with dense cover of grass or shrubs, high ground water table, and soil rich in humus. It is rare in dark coniferous forests and absent from marshes. In places where Altai Moles are exposed to flooding and spring snow melt, they migrate, approaching water during summer and moving to elevated places in autumn. Food and Feeding. Diet of the Altai Mole mainly contains earthworms, followed by insect larvae, millipedes and centipedes (Myriapoda), and other invertebrates. Earthworms were found in 85-3-100% of studied stomachs and made up 63-73-6% of prey items. Most abundant insect larvae were cockchafers ( Melolontha ), click beetles ( Elateridae ), weevils ( Curculionidae ), darkling beetles ( Tenebrionidae ), and crane flies ( Tipulidae ). Stomach contents weigh 0-79-3-4 g. Earthworms are paralyzed by mutilation of anterior segments and cached. Caches containing 100-150 cm” of earthworms were found in molehills under snow. Breeding. Female Altai Moles are reproductively mature at 1-5-5 months old; males mature in their second year. Breeding occurs from mid-May to late September and peaks in June-August. Young females, still in their first year, copulate later. Implantation is delayed which extends gestation to 9-10 months. In autumn, females have 2—4 blastocysts 0-8-1 mm in diameter in each uterine horn. Embryos start developing rapidly in April, and young are born between late April and end of May. Numbers of embryos are 3-6/female (population means 4-2—4-6). Females lactate for 35-40 days. In late June and earlyJuly, young are weaned and weigh 80-134 g, or 80-90% of adult weight. Mortality is insignificant during the intrauterine phase (1-3% of embryos) but is high before weaning. Presumably, at most, two young/litter are weaned. First winter survival is 23-3-29-6%, second winter 12:9-18-4%, third winter 11-8-12-9%, and fourth winter 1:9-2-3%. No predators specialized on the Altai Mole. Main sources of mortality are spring flooding and extreme winters with little snow. Such conditions can eliminate Altai Moles from large areas. Maximum life expectancy is 5-6 years. Activity patterns. The Altai Mole is fossorial and excavates underground tunnels. They dig deeper during dry periods and in autumn; rains trigger burrowing close to the ground’s surface and in leaf litter. They also dig through snow. Most excavated soil is transported to the surface in autumn. Molehills average 48 cm in diameter and 15 cm high. In spring, there can be an average of one molehill per square meter. Tunnels are 5-8 cm in diameter, descend 1-29 cm deep, and are usually ¢.90 m long. Nests are in welldrained soil where snow melts early. Nest chambers are spherical (4-25 cm in diameter) and open into 5-6 tunnels; 34 tunnels are horizontal and connect radially to facilitate aeration and provide emergency exits. Nests are frequently sheltered under tree roots or a rock and lined with dry plant material. Altai Moles are active round the clock, but 80% of digging activity occurs between 21:00 h and 01:00 h. They can swim well at 1 km/h. Movements, Home range and Social organization. Altai Moles seasonally migrate. During wet periods, they retreat to higher places, and during droughts, they descend into depressions. They can travel 2-2-5 km away from undesirable conditions and stay hidden in surface tunnels. In April-May, spatial activity can be restricted to as little as 50-70 m*. Neighbors frequently live 300-500 m apart. In mixed woodland, densities are 1-3 ind/ha, and 0-5-2-5 ind/km? were trapped in western Siberia. Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Altai Mole is included in red books of the Republic of Buryatia, Yakutia (= Sakha Republic), and Omsk Oblast (all in Russian Federation), and it is listed as data deficient in the Mongolian Red Book. Deforestation, particularly when accompanied with degradation of associated grasslands, caused significant local declines in western Siberia. In some other parts of the distribution, removal of woodland created suitable habitats allowing more than ten-fold increase in density of Altai Moles. In the past, the Altai Mole was trapped for fur. Trapping started in the 1930s in western Siberia, and by the 1950s, the region provided 180,000-185,000 skins/year. Bibliography. Clark et al. (2006), Colangelo et al. (2010), Kawada, Koyasu et al. (2006), Laptev (1958), Malkova (2005b), Ognev (1928), Popov (1977), Shubin (1991), Stroganov (1957), Yudin (1971), Zaitsev et al. (2014).