Mogera etigo, Yoshiyuki & Imaizumi, 1991

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 : 616

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6678191

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6780160

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0380B547-B64A-FF9A-9A99-F69BF606C18A

treatment provided by

Valdenar

scientific name

Mogera etigo
status

 

39. View Plate 27: Talpidae

Echigo Mole

Mogera etigo View in CoL

French: Taupe d'Echigo / German: Echigo-Maulwurf / Spanish: Topo de Echigo

Other common names: Etigo Mole

Taxonomy. Mogera etigo Yoshiyuki & Imai- zumi, 1991, View in CoL Inugaeshi-shinden, Shirone- shi, Echigo Plain, Niigata Prefecture, Honshu, Japan.

Mogera etigo was considered to be the same species as M. tokudae , but the two differ morphologically, and karyotypic rear rangement resulted in several pericentric inversions. Molecular data support close relationships with M. tokudae . Monotypic.

Distribution. Japan, restricted to Echigo Plain in Niigata Prefecture (Honshu). View Figure

Descriptive notes. Head-body 157-170-5 mm, tail 23-29-5 mm, hindfoot 21-23 mm; weight 94-9-161-5 g. Tail is 3-8-17-9% of head-body length. Body of the Echigo Mole is large, muzzle pad is well developed, and naked portion on upper side of muzzle is diamond-shaped. Summer pelage is reddish brown or nearly clove-brown, darker above and nearly cinnamon-brown below. Skull is large. Rostrum is relatively narrow, and interorbital portion is broad. Braincase is wide and short. Upper incisor row is clearly V-shaped and projected forward. Dental formulais 13/2, C1/1,P 4/4, M 3/3 (x2) = 42. Dental anomalies (missing upper premolars and P,) were found in 8:5% of specimens. There are 7 cervical, 13 thoracic, 6 lumbar, 6 sacral, and 13 caudal vertebrae. There are ten mammae. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 36 and FNa = 54.

Habitat. Paddy fields in lowlands. Narrow distribution is divided into two populations of the Echigo Mole; both are surrounded by the distribution of the Small Japanese Mole (M. imaizumaz).

Food and Feeding. The Echigo Mole mainly feeds on earthworms (Pheretima spp.).

Breeding. Pregnant Echigo Moles were mainly collected in March-April and rarely in July-August. Average number of embryos was 3-4/female.

Activity patterns. The Echigo Mole is fossorial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Distribution of Echigo Mole is very restricted on the Echigo Plain of Honshu. The Echigo Mole inhabits mainly paddy fields, and modern structural improvements of paddy fields could accelerate decline of extant populations, along with distributional expansion and species displacement by Small Japanese Mole.

Bibliography. Abe (1995, 1996), Hashimoto & Abe (1999), Kawada (2016), Kawada, Endo et al. (2011), Kawada, Harada et al. (2001), Ohdachi et al. (2015), Tsuchiya et al. (2000), Yoshiyuki & Imaizumi (1991).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Soricomorpha

Family

Talpidae

Genus

Mogera

Loc

Mogera etigo

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson 2018
2018
Loc

Mogera etigo Yoshiyuki & Imai- zumi, 1991,

Yoshiyuki & Imaizumi 1991
1991
GBIF Dataset (for parent article) Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF