I wanted to write about the Golden mole this week as I was
chatting about it a couple of weeks ago, and it’s something I don’t believe
many people know about.
The Golden mole is found in southern Africa and can be found
under nearly all environments such as grass lands, forests, swamps and deserts.
It is extremely comparable to the European mole with a similar physiology such
as strong powerful forelimbs and large feet and claws to aid with digging and a
narrow streamline body to help them speed through the soil. Although the Golden mole is so similar to the
European Mole they are found in completely different families, the European
mole is part of Talpidae while the Golden mole is found in the family
Chrysochloridae. It does not just stop there however these two moles both also
show extreme similarities with the marsupial moles found in Australia.
So the question is how are these animals so very similar? As
it isn’t just the same physiology which they share, they also share similar
diets, behaviour, senses and habitats. The answer is a process called
coevolution or convergence, this is when two different unconnected animals move
in to fill the exact same niches which dictates their evolution paths and so
they both become closely associated to the other species. This kind of
evolution isn’t uncommon and cases can be seen in insects, birds and even
plants with similar methods of dealing with problems being seen everywhere.
Sadly there are already 10 of the 21 different species of
Golden Mole which are classed as threatened to critically endangered according
to the IUCN. The majority of these species of Golden moles which are suffering
is due to human activity. As is always the case fragmentation and degradation
of habitat are causing population declines. This generally takes the form of
things such as urbanisation, agriculture and destructive forms of mining
destroying indigenous forest and grass lands. There is also a lack of
information on 3 of the 21 species so the conservation status of these species
is classed as unknown but it is extremely likely that like many other animals they
too are experiencing pressure on their populations.
Enough with the doom and gloom though, as I want to close on
a few amazing facts about the Golden Moles.
A Golden mole is capable of eating up to half its own body
weight of insects a day, that is not really that much however as they have an
average weight of around 35g. They are also able to reduce their metabolic rate
when food is hard to find and so conserve energy and heat by entering into torpor
like state.
They are primarily solitary creatures and spend most their
lives alone, only grouping to gather to mate. This grouping is achieved by
producing sounds such as squeals and clicks to draw each other towards each
other using there extremely sensitive hearing.
Finally they are extremely hard to locate and study so most
of the information we know about Golden moles is collected from isolating the
carcasses of them from owl stomachs. In fact we know so little we do not even
have an average lifespan for the majority of species.
Thanks for reading
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