42 Mammals of Eastern Asia 
than 3 inches, of the tail 1% inches, of the hind foot (with 
claws) a little more than y 2 inch. This Mole is found in the hilly- 
parts of Japan, on Tsu-Shima, and on Oki Island in the Japan 
Sea. 
The Spindle-tailed Shrew Mole, Scaptonyx fusicaudatus, 
is more like a typical Mole than the other Chinese Shrew Moles. 
The hands are slightly broadened and the claws are stout, com- 
pressed, and straight, much as in the Japanese Shrew Mole. The 
tail is thick; its length, l 1 /! inches, is one-third of the length of 
the head and body. The color is dark slate, touched with brown 
at the tips of the hairs. This Mole is found in Yunnan between 
8000 and 13,000 feet. A race, affinis, from southwest Yunnan 
and northeast Burma, has smaller teeth. Its external dimensions 
are about the same as those of fusicaudatus. The foot measures 
% inch. 
SUBFAMILY TALPIN^ 
The True Moles are all burrowing animals, with close-set, 
nearly erect, velvety fur, shorter snouts than most Urotrichinae, 
hands and feet broadened, and front claws enlarged for digging. 
The genera include the typical Moles, Talpa (Latin for "mole"), 
Temminck's Moles, Mogera, the White-tailed Mole, Parascap- 
tor, and the Musk Mole, Scaptochirus. 
The True Moles, Talpa, are represented in eastern Asia by 
several species : the Common Mole, Talpa europea, is present in 
the temperate zone of the Old World from England and France 
to Japan. In eastern Asia it extends from Siberia south to Nepal 
(race macrura). Its habits have been more studied than those of 
almost any other kind of Mole. 
The erect, velvety fur of the European Mole is black, some- 
times tipped with grayish. Underneath a narrow streak of 
orange occasionally extends from the throat to the chest. Rarely, 
pied or even white specimens have been observed. It has 44 teeth. 
The length of the head and body is Sy 2 inches, tail 1% inches. 
