Mammals of the WorldShort-faced Mole
Scaptochirus moschatus
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Talpidae
- Genus
- Scaptochirus
- IUCN status
- LC
- Distribution
- China|Mongolia?
- Realm
- Palearctic
About this species
- Habitat
- Dry, open landscapes from grassland to desert-like areas
- Range
- Northeastern China
The short-faced mole is a medium-sized mole. Like all true moles it has a cylindrical body with a short neck and shovel-like forelimbs. The fur is grey-brown and the muzzle is short. Little information exists on how it lives. It occurs in the northeastern part of China, where it inhabits dry, open landscapes ranging from grassland to desert-like areas. (German Wikipedia, general species account)
The skull is 30.2–35.7 millimetres long and 13.3–14.7 millimetres wide across the zygomatic arches, with the braincase 16.9–18.1 millimetres wide at the mastoids. It looks comparatively robust, but the rostrum is short and broad, 9.7–11.1 millimetres wide at the molars. The tympanic bullae are wide, long and flat, the lower jaw massive with strongly built processes, and there are 40 teeth. (German Wikipedia, general species account)
Description: Wildlife of Mongolia guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)