La Touche's mole (Mogera latouchei) is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in eastern China and parts of northern Vietnam.[1] It is named after Irish naturalist John David Digues La Touche.
| La Touche's mole | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | Talpidae |
| Genus: | Mogera |
| Species: | M. latouchei
|
| Binomial name | |
| Mogera latouchei Thomas, 1907
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| La Touche's mole range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Mogera insularis latouchei | |
It was formerly considered a subspecies of the insular mole (M. insularis) of Hainan Island and eastern Taiwan (or alternatively just eastern Taiwan), but a 2007 genetic analysis found both species to be distinct from one another.[2] Phylogenetic analysis indicates that M. latouchei is a sister species to a clade comprising the 2-3 island-endemic Mogera species from China and Taiwan (M. insularis, M. kanoana, and M. hainana if the latter is considered distinct from insularis).[3]
Diagnostic characteristics of the species are its small size, dark fur, and wide auditory opening in the skull, the latter of which is distinct from any other Mogera species. Specimens of M. latouchei from Vietnam and China have similar skeletal characteristics, but Vietnamese populations are thought to be larger and have a more robust skull; this could potentially indicate the presence of a cryptic species within the M. latouchei lineage[4][5]
In Vietnam, M. latouchei has a peripatric distribution with respect to the long-nosed mole (Euroscaptor longirostris), with La Touche's mole being found at low elevations from 600 to 800 meters, including in farmland, and the long-nosed mole only being found above 800 meters. This indicates that both species may be competitors with one another.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Mogera latouchei O. Thomas, 1907". The Mammal Diversity Database. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
- ^ Kawada, Shin-ichiro; Shinohara, Akio; Kobayashi, Shuji; Harada, Masashi; Oda, Sen-ichi; Lin, Liang-Kong (May 2007). "Revision of the mole genus Mogera (Mammalia: Lipotyphla: Talpidae) from Taiwan". Systematics and Biodiversity. 5 (2): 223–240. doi:10.1017/S1477200006002271. S2CID 67838117.
- ^ Tu, Feiyun; Zhai, Xiaofei; Zhao, Wenjing; Wang, Jichao (16 September 2021). "New Mitogenome of the Hainan Mole Mogera hainana and Taxonomic Implications Based on Molecular Data". Mammal Study. 47 (1). doi:10.3106/ms2021-0008. S2CID 240524352.
- ^ a b Kawada, Shin-ichiro; Son, Nguyen Truong; Can, Dang Ngoc (22 June 2009). "Moles (Insectivora, Talpidae, Talpinae) of Vietnam" (PDF). Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science. Series A, Zoology. 35 (2): 89–101. S2CID 209443371.
- ^ Shinohara, Akio; Kawada, Shin-ichiro; Son, Nguyen Truong; Koshimoto, Chihiro; Endo, Hideki; Can, Dang Ngoc; Suzuki, Hitoshi (26 June 2014). "Molecular phylogeny of East and Southeast Asian fossorial moles (Lipotyphla, Talpidae)". Journal of Mammalogy. 95 (3): 455–466. doi:10.1644/13-mamm-a-135. S2CID 86338808.