T A L P I D ^.. 



TRUE MOLES. 

 Genus TALPA. 



1758. Talpa, Carolus Linnaeus, Systema Natum, x., 52; xii., 72>i 1766; based on 

 T. eitropcca of Liniiieus, and T. asiatica of Linnaeus. 



In Britain this genus includes only the well-known T. 

 etiropcea, the type of its genus, of form and habits so character- 

 istic as to require few words of description. 



True moles are burrowing insectivores, with the body cylin- 

 drical, short limbs and tail, and immense hands ; with abundant 

 velvety fur set vertically in the skin ; with eye and ear very 

 much reduced or entirely absent as external organs ; with 

 the head, which is used for turning up the earth, tapering to the 

 extremity of the slender, flexible, and sensitive snout. 



The arm is modified so as to form a powerful digging 

 organ ; the radius and ulna are well developed, short, and 

 strong ; the humerus and clavicle are short and broad, the 

 latter particularly so, thus bringing the arm well forward. 

 The hand is very broad and flat, and, when digging, faces 

 outwards, not downwards (Plates I. and II., Fig. i); 

 it cannot be closed, but by inclination of the terminal 

 phalanges forms a very efficient hoe ; its great breadth arises 

 principally from a special development of the proximal inner 

 wrist-bone or radial sesamoid, a large curved ossicle known as 

 the OS falciforme. All five fingers are present and carry strong, 

 acutely-pointed claws, which are firmly embedded in the 

 elongated terminal phalanges. The other phalanges are much 

 shortened. In the hind limb the tibia and fibula are united, 

 and there is no pubic symphysis. The foot is comparatively 

 small and weak, but all five digits are present. The intestine 

 is without a caecum. 



