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Golden mole

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Grant's golden mole
Eremitalpa granti
A member of the ancient native group of African mammals and not related to European moles, the golden moles are solitary, blind burrowers with shiny pale brown fur.

 


Golden moles in the Chlorotalpa weigh 40 - 75 g (1.4 - 2.7 oz). They are found in a variety of habitats but mostly in dry sandy soils. Golden moles eat . Their 1 or 2 young are born in a grass-lined cavity in the ground.

Golden moles are fairly common throughout southern Africa, where 7 genera and around 18 species are known. They thrive in habitats ranging from deserts to swamps, where they are generally solitary and territorial.

The golden moles and tenrecs are part of this clade. Some also regard the elephant shrews and aardvarks as part of it, although these two order are traditionally seen as primitive ungulates.

Gunning's golden mole (Neamblysomus gunningi)
Siphocampylus (Siphocampylus uncipes)
Rio Branco antbird (Cercomacra carbonaria)
Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba)
White-haired tournefortia (Tournefortia pubescens) ...

Molar teeth of the simple tritubercular type persist in the golden moles (Chrysochloris) among the Insectivora and also in the marsupial mole (Notoryctes) among the marsupials.

I did not wish to include groups that can only be identified by trapping and examination in-hand. So there are no mice, rats, shrews, gophers, moles, golden moles, marsupial moles, and other similar small species on this list.

The closest living relatives to the aardvarks include elephants, hyraxes, dugongs, manatees, elephant shrews, golden moles and tenrecs. Together, these mammals form a group known as the "Afrotheria".

for the paenungulates, although they are no longer associated with the true ungulates, they DO have a strong evolutionary relationship with each other. These four orders, along with the the elephant shrews (Macroscelidea) and tenrecs and golden moles ...

The golden moles of S Africa are members of the insectivorous family Chrysochloridae; they are burrowing animals with bright golden fur.

See also: Shrew, Elephant, Tenrecs, Aardvark, Manatee