248 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vou 86 



SCALOPUS AQUATICUS AQUATICUS (Linnaeus): Eastern Mole 



The range of this race seems to be restricted to the drainage basins 

 of the upper Tennessee— Clinch, Holston, and French Broad Rivers 

 in the eastern part of the State. Howell (1909, p. 67) states that 

 this mole was reported to occur in the vicinity of Briceville, Ander- 

 son County, and that it was scarce on Walden Ridge near Soddy, 

 Hamilton County. On the western slope of Low Gap, two moles 

 were trapped in an old cornfield. The male (U.S.N.M. no. 267145) 

 from Low Gap has a somewhat shorter skull than average individuals 

 of the race from Virginia and Maryland, although the well-worn 

 teeth show that it is fully adult. It is, however, approximately the 

 same size as a skull (U.S.N.M. no. 99639) from Falls Church, Va., 

 which has similarly worn teeth. This mole has been recorded from 

 Dry Valley, Blount County (Komarek and Komarek, 1938, p. 145). 



Blount County: 1. 



Cocke County: Low Gap, 4% miles southeast of Cosby, altitude 2,700 feet, 2. 



Hamilton County: Walden Ridge near Rathburn [Soddy P. O.], 1. 



SCALOPUS AQUATICUS MACHRINUS (Rafinesque): Prairie Mole 



This mole occurs in the bluegrass region of middle Tennessee, 

 chiefly in the lower drainage areas of the Big Sandy, Tennessee, and 

 Cumberland Rivers, as well as in the bottomlands bordering the small 

 tributaries of the Mississippi River. Jackson (1915, p. 44) lists three 

 specimens from Nashville, Davidson County. 



From Benjamin C. Miles, Rhoads (1896, p. 201) received informa- 

 tion that the mole is common in Haywood County "wherever land 

 is rich, and is troublesome in that he burrows in the rows and destroys 

 growing plants, and runs tunnels up and down hill which I have 

 seen in one season wash into gullies 18 inches deep." 



Four moles taken by W. M. Perrygo and Carleton Lingebach 

 during April 1937 extend the range of this race to the southwestern 

 corner of the State. These moles were trapped in a cottonfield and, 

 judged from the number of runways, moles were apparently common 

 in northwestern Shelby County. The four specimens from Shelby 

 County resemble machrinus in general coloration, but they have 

 shorter skulls and slightly lighter dentition, as well as a shorter 

 total length. These specimens approach individuals of howelli from 

 Ardell (U.S.N.M. no. 207227) and Greensboro (U.S.N.M. no. 57050), 

 Ala., in the length of the skull and size of the teeth, but differ in 

 coloration. The above-mentioned specimens of hoioeJli are consider- 

 ably larger than topotypes. Burrows made by moles were seen along 

 the edge of the cypress swamp near Hickory Withe, but the museum 

 party did not succeed in trapping any. 



