64 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE COMMON MOLE. TALPA EUROPCEA. 



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



Bell, British Quadrupeds 2nd ed. p. 115 (1874). 

 Talpa vulgaris, Owen, Brit. Foss. Mamm. p. 19 (1846). 



Characters. Tail about one-fourth or one-fifth the length of the 

 head and body, slender, nearly of equal diameter throughout, 

 and haired ; upper surface of hind feet thinly clothed with fur ; 

 eyelids open. Fourth upper pre-molar tooth without distal 

 internal basal process, and the corresponding lower tooth 

 smaller than the first of the same series. General colour some 

 shade of black, varying from bluish-black to sooty-black, but 

 occasionally grey, cream-colour, or even white. Length of 

 head and body about 5^ inches; of tail, if inch. 



It may be noted that as the European Hedge-hog differs from 

 all its congeners in the characters of its teeth, so the Common 

 Mole is distinguished from all the other members of its genus 

 in that its minute eyes are not covered with a continuous mem- 

 brane ; and it is, therefore, capable of receiving impressions of 

 light. In this respect it is accordingly a rather less specialised 

 creature than its kindred ; and the existence of these perfect, 

 although useless, eyes, is of itself a sufficient proof that Moles 

 are descended from animals which lived on the surface of the 

 earth, and that their completely subterranean habits have been 

 gradually acquired. 



Although some shade of black, generally with a more or less 

 well-marked greyish sheen, is the normal colour of the Mole, 

 variations from this are by no means uncommon ; and Bell 

 records grey, dark olive-brown, pied, yellowish-white, and 

 wholly or partially orange Moles, while he notes some speci- 

 mens with an orange patch on the chest, although elsewhere of 

 the normal hue. Albino specimens are also from time to time 

 met with ; while there is almost every transition between the 



