Scapanus townsendii
Townsend's Mole
(Scapanus townsendii) | |
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Range | |
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Taxonomic classification | |
Order: | Eulipotyphla |
Suborder: | Erinaceota |
Family: | Talpidae |
Subfamily: | Scalopinae |
Tribe: | Scalopini |
Genus: | Scapanus |
Binomial details | |
Scapanus townsendii (Bachman, 1839) |
Townsend's Mole (Scapanus townsendii) is the largest species of mole in North America.
Description
From Carraway et al. (1993): "The black velvet-like pelage is short and the body stream-lined (True, 1896; Yates and Pedersen, 1982); the shoulders are heavy and the external appendages are muscular, short, and close to the body (Bailey, 1936; Cahalane, 1947; Silver, 1933). It has a long snout; a short neck; a short, essentially naked tail; small hind feet (Bailey, 1936; Elliot, 190 1); and the front feet are shovel-like, as wide as they are long, and have large heavy claws (Cahalane, 1947). The ears have no pinnae and the eyes are minute (True, 1896). Females possess four pairs of mammae (Nowak and Paradiso, 1983)."
From Verts & Carraway (1998): "A variety of colormorphs—including some with small white spots or splotches of reddish yellow on both grayish and normally black pelages; some with mottled pelages of gray, brown, grayish brown, and light yellow on both dorsum and venter; some entirely white shading to yellow; some entirely reddish yellow; and some with a variety of these colors in patterns—have been recorded (Carraway and Verts, 1991a)."

External measurements
Length measurements are in millimeters (mm) and weight measurements are in grams (g), unless stated otherwise. If available, the sample size (n=) is provided. If a range is not provided and n= is not given, then the listed measurement represents an average.
Part of range | Reference | Total length | Tail length | Hindfoot length | Ear length | Mass |
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California | Jameson & Peeters (2004) | 195–240 | 33–52 | 24–28 | 115–150 | |
Canada | Naughton (2012) | |||||
not reported | see Carraway et al. (1993) for details | 195–237 | 34–51 (up to 61 also reported) | 24–28 (23–31 also reported) | pinnae 2–4 | 64–171 |
Oregon | Verts & Carraway (1998) | 200–230 | 30–51 | 21–29 | 87.4–231 |
Skull characters
From Jameson & Peeters (2004): "The last upper unicuspid is about equal to that immediately in front of it; the unicuspids are evenly spaced."
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Dorsal view of skull of Scapanus townsendii. Scale bar major divisions are centimeters. -
Lateral view of skull of Scapanus townsendii. Scale bar major divisions are centimeters. -
Ventral view of skull of Scapanus townsendii. Scale bar major divisions are centimeters. -
Unicsupids of Scapanus townsendii. Note that the unicuspids are evenly spaced and the last two unicuspids (U5 and U6) are about equal.
Similar species
Key to the species of Scapanus
From Carraway et al. (1993): "Of sympatric talpids, Townsend's mole can be distinguished from Neurotrichus gibbsii by possession of 44 teeth instead of 36, forefeet as wide as long, total length> 130 mm, tail <25% of total length, and length of hind foot > 18 mm; from Scapanus orarius by total length > 200 mm, length of hind foot > 24 mm, condylobasal length of skull usually 40 mm, and a prominent sublachrymal ridge; and from Scapanus latimanus by absence of a coppery wash on the pelage and fifth and sixth upper unicuspids evenly spaced."
From Verts & Carraway (1998): "It can be distinguished from S. latimanus by its almost black pelage, absence of a coppery wash on the fur, and even-spaced unicuspids, and from S. orarius by a total length >200 mm, length of hind foot > 24 mm, total length of the skull usually ≥40 mm, and prominent sublacrimal ridges (Carraway et al., 1993; Jackson, 1915).
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Townsend's Mole (Scapanus townsendii) observed in Beaverton, Oregon, by mjwood77. Scapanus townsendii is the largest species of mole in North America. Notice that the tail is scantily haired and appears almost naked. -
American Shrew Mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii) is the smallest species of mole in North America. Notice that the tail is well-haired and relatively long. -
Scapanus latimanus observed in Willits, California, by jabbott. Notice that the tail is nearly covered in hair to the tip. -
Scapanus orarius observed in Washington by Patricia Teague. Notice that the tail is scantily haired and appears almost naked.
References
Bachman J. 1839. Description of several new species of American quadrupeds. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 8(1):57-74.
Carraway LN, Alexander LF, Verts BJ. 1993. Scapanus townsendii. Mammalian Species (434): 1-7.
Jackson HHT. 1915. A review of the American moles. North American Fauna 38:1-100.
Jameson EW, Peeters HJ. 2004. Mammals of California (No. 66). Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.
Naughton D. 2012. The natural history of Canadian mammals. Toronto (ON, CA): University of Toronto Press.
Verts BJ, Carraway LN. 1998. Land mammals of Oregon. Berkeley (CA, USA): University of California Press.