THE COMMON MOLE, MOLDWARP OR WANT 5 



as Milne-Edwards's T. longirostris of western China and Tibet, 

 the short-tailed T. micrura of Hodgson from the south-western 

 Himalayas, and T. fl/<^«?>« of Nikolski, from the Altais, are little 

 known. In all, except T. europcea, the eyes are said to be 

 covered by a membrane. 



The genus is unrepresented in Africa, where its place 

 is taken by the golden moles or Chrysochloridce ; and in the 

 new world. In the latter the four allied genera, Scalops, 

 Scapanus, Parascalops, and Condylura (see True, Proc. U.S. 

 Nat. Mus., xix. [No. iioij, 1-112, 1896), have the first upper 

 incisor much larger than the second. Talpa is connected with 

 Sorex through Urotrichus and Neurotrichus, the mole-shrews 

 of Japan and North America respectively, and through Uro- 

 psilus ^ of Tibet, the latter a shrew with a mole's skull. 

 Remains of moles occur in the upper Eocene deposits of 

 Europe {Proialpa), and the genus Talpa itself dates from the 

 Miocene period. 



Other allied genera are -.—Scaptochirus, with forty teeth, of 

 China, Mongolia, Asia Minor, and Syria; Parascaptor of 

 Indo-China to Tibet, and Mogera of Formosa, Japan, and 

 Siberia, each with forty-two teeth ; and the hardly known 

 Dymecodon of Japan (see Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc, London, 

 4th February 1908, 51, footnote). 



THE COMMON MOLE, MOLDWARP OR WANT. 



TALPA EUROPE A, Linnaeus. 



1758. Talpa europ^a, Carolus Linnseus, Systema Natura, x., 52 ; xii., 733, 1766; 

 and all authors, except as below ; described from Upsala, Sweden. 



1776. Talpa FRISIUS, P. L. S. Miiller, Natursystems Supplements und Register Band, 

 Suppl., 36 ; described from Ost-Friesland. 



1777- Talpa europ^A, a albo-maculata, J. C. R. Erxleben, Systema Regni 

 Animalis, i., 117; described from Ost-Friesland. 



1785, Talpa vulgaris, P. Boddaert, Elenchus Animalium, i., 126; from Brisson, 

 renaming T. europaa. 



1789. Talpa euroP/EA, ^ variegata, J. F. Gmelin, Systema Natures, i., ed. xiii., 

 no; based on a colour-variety. 



1789. Talpa europaa, 7 alba, J. F. Gmelin, loc. cit.j based on a white variety. 



1792. Talpa europaa nigra, Robert Kerr, Animal Kingdom, 200 ; apparently 

 renaming T. europaa. 



