MOLES. 63 



Desmans, it should be observed, which depart from the typical 

 Mole type, may be regarded as connecting links between the 

 Moles and Shrews. 



THE TRUE MOLES. GENUS TALPA. 

 Talpa^ Linn., Syst. Nat. ed. 12 vol. i. p. 73 (1766). 



Body almost cylindrical, and passing imperceptibly into the 

 head without any well-defined neck ; limbs, especially the front 

 pair, completely modified for digging ; fore-feet normally 

 turned outwards, instead of downwards, very broad and flat, 

 and furnished with large, nail-like claws, their breadth being 

 increased by a large sickle-like bone on the inner side. All 

 the bones of the fore-limb very short ; and the collar-bones 

 frequently as broad as long. Tail short; no external ears; 

 eyes very minute and entirely hidden by the fur, which is 

 short, soft, and velvety, with its component hairs set vertically 

 in the skin, and not directed backwards. Usually forty-four 

 teeth,* of which in each jaw three pairs are incisors, one 

 canines, four pre-molars, and three molars ; incisors chisel-like 

 and set in a semi-circular row ; upper canines long, conical, and 

 inserted in the jaw by double roots ; the lower canines similar 

 in character to the incisors. 



Moles are among the few existing placental Mammals which 

 retain the typical number of forty-four teeth, though this fea- 

 ture was not uncommon among their extinct ancestors of the 

 early portion of the Tertiary period. 



The True Moles are an exclusively Old World group, where 

 they are represented by eight species, which are confined to 

 Europe and Asia. In addition to the Common Mole, a second 

 species is found in Europe to the south of the Alps ; while ot 

 the Asiatic forms only two occur to the southward of the 

 Himalaya. 



* In some species the first pair of upper pre-molars is absent, thus 

 reducing the number of teeth to forty-two. 



