Parascalops breweri (Bachman, 1842)

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 : 598-599

9.

Hairy-tailed Mole

Parascalops breweri

French: Taupe a queue velue / German: Haarschwanzmaulwurf / Spanish: Topo de cola peluda

Other common names: Brewer's Mole

Taxonomy. Scalops breweri Bachman, 1842 ,

“Martha’s Vineyard, an Island on the coast of New England,” Massachusetts, USA.

Parascalops breweri is the only extant species of Parascalops . Monotypic.

Distribution. SE Canada (S Ontario and S Quebec) and NE USA (W Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, N Connecticut, N Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, N New Jersey, West Virginia, NW Maryland, W Virginia, E Kentucky, E Tennessee, W North Carolina, extreme NE Georgia, and extreme NW South Carolina).

Descriptive notes. Head—body c.126—-140 mm (males) and ¢.125-133 mm (females), tail 29-33 mm (males) and 26-33 mm (females), hindfoot 18-19 mm (males) and 16-19 mm (females); weight 45-5-62-8 g (males) and 41-49-9 g (females). Male Hairy-tailed Moles are an average of 15% heavier than females. Body is cylindrical, snout is relatively short, and eyes are small and hidden in fur. Tail is short, slightly constricted at base, annulated, and densely covered with long coarse hairs. Nostrils are lateral and directed upward. There are no external ears, but auricular orifice is tubular and 3-5 mm long. Eyes are nearly hidden by fur. Feet are short; palms are naked; and forefeet are large, circular, and as broad as high. Fur is thick, soft, and even silky; hairs are of equal length. Dorsum is dark slate to black; venteris slightly paler; and tail, feet, and snout are dark brown. Young Hairy-tailed Moles have dark brown hair on feet and tail and fuscous black on snout; these regions acquire grizzled appearance in adults and turn almost pure white in very old individuals. White spots c.1 cm in diameter are common on chest and abdomen. Skull is flat and slightly depressed postorbitally, with relatively short rostrum. Coronoid process on mandible is directed forward. Dental formulais 13/3, C1/1,P 4/4, M 3/3 (x2) = 44. First upper incisor (I') is larger than posterior incisors and canine. Incidence of extra premolar in one jaw was reported. Karyotype is 2n = 34.

Habitat. Large open fields and pastures and dense forests with thick humus from sea level to elevations of ¢.1950 m in the Great Smoky Mountains in the Tennessee—North Carolina border. Hairy-tailed Moles prefer loose, well-drained light soils, particularly

moist sandy loams with sufficient cover; they avoid hard, dry, and sandy soils; and they are only exceptionally present in marshes and on clay soils.

Food and Feeding. Diet of the Hairy-tailed Mole contains earthworms and various arthropods such as millipedes (Diplopoda), centipedes (Chilopoda), and adult and larval insects. An individual mole weighing 50 g consumed 66 g of invertebrates in 24 hours. Hairy-tailed Moles immobilize earthworms by mutilating their anterior segments and cache them afterward. Captive individuals ate eggs of small birds,all kind of flesh, and mealworms but rejected vegetable matter; they consumed 1-3-3-9 times their weight per day.

Breeding. Hairy-tailed Moles mate in late March and early April. Vaginal orifice of females is normally closed by surface skin except during the breeding season. Copulatory plug is formed after mating. Gestation presumably lasts 1-1-5 months, and females give birth to a single litter of 4-5 blind and hairless young in April-May. Young grow rapidly, are weaned at four weeks old, and attain sexual maturity in the following spring. At 8-10 months old, milk teeth can still be present next to erupted permanent dentition. Life span is 3—4 years.

Activity patterns. Hairy-tailed Moles appear to be most active during the day and travel aboveground at night. They are primarily fossorial, and activity occurs mainly underground, although they defecate aboveground. They are powerful diggers and able to shove aside loose stones as large as 370 g. The Hairy-tailed Mole is the most generalized of the Nearctic fossorial moles, with the least developed humerus. Tunnels are elliptical, 37-45 mm in horizontal diameter, and 25-32 mm high. Hairytailed Moles construct two types of tunnels: shallow subsurface tunnels form dense irregular networks of temporary runway corridors and deeper permanent tunnels, less abundant and used for up to eight years. As winter approaches, Hairy-tailed Moles repair and expand deeper tunnels. At temperatures below freezing, they cease surface activity. When digging new tunnels, soil is pushed to the surface as a molehill. More molehills are constructed in wet weather. Molehills average 15 cm in diameter and 7-5 cm high. A spherical nest with diameter of 15 cm is lined with dry grass and leaves and located in a deep burrow 25-50 cm underground. Occasional tunnel enlargements (up to 8 cm) not more than 20 cm underground can serve as resting places. Hairy-tailed Moles are active at all hours, but subterranean activity mostly occurs during the day. They leave tunnel systems and appear aboveground at night to forage and during breeding season when males search for females. Although dispersal is largely subterranean, young will travel briefly aboveground even during the day. Speed aboveground is up to 9 m/minute. Exceptionally, the Hairy-tailed Mole swims using all four feet for propulsion.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Deeper tunnels of Hairy-tailed Moles extend over areas of 15-25 m in diameter. Home ranges average 810 m* and expand in summer. Average density is c¢.3 ind/ha but exceptionally 25-30 ind/ha. Males associate only in spring, and adults of both sexes and young share the same tunnel systems during summer.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Southern populations of the Hairy-tailed Mole are under threat, and it is listed as vulnerable in Tennessee and critically imperiled in Georgia.

Bibliography. Eadie (1939), Fraser & Miller (2008), Gorelick & Bertram (2008), Graves (2002), Hallett (1978), Hamilton (1939), Laerm, Ford & Chapman (2007), NatureServe (2017a), Paradiso (1969), Whitaker & Hamilton (1998), Wright (1945).

Figures

1. Equivalent-teeth Shrew Mole (Uropsilus aequodonenia), 2. Anderson’s Shrew Mole (Uropsilus andersont), 3. Gracile Shrew Mole (Uropsilus gracilis), 4. Inquisitive Shrew Mole (Uropsilus investigator), 5. Chinese Shrew Mole (Uropsilus soricipes), 6. Snow Mountain Shrew Mole (Uropsilus nivatus), 7. Black-backed Shrew Mole (Uropsilus atronates), 8. Gansu Mole (Scapanulus oweni), 9. Hairy-tailed Mole (Parascalops breweri), 10. Coast Mole (Scapanus orarius), 11. Townsend’s Mole (Scapanus townsend), 12. Broad-footed Mole (Scapanus latimanus), 13. Mexican Mole (Scapanus anthonyi), 14. Eastern Mole (Scalopus aquaticus), 15. Long-tailed Mole (Scaptonyx fusicauda), 16. Japanese Shrew Mole (Urotrichus talpoides), 17. True’s Shrew Mole (Dymecodon pilirostris), 18. American Shrew Mole (Neurotrichus gibbsi), 19. Star-nosed Mole (Condylura cristata), 20. Russian Desman (Desmana moschata), 21. Pyrenean Desman (Galemys pyrenaicus)

Distribution. SE Canada (S Ontario and S Quebec) and NE USA (W Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, N Connecticut, N Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, N New Jersey, West Virginia, NW Maryland, W Virginia, E Kentucky, E Tennessee, W North Carolina, extreme NE Georgia, and extreme NW South Carolina).