Mole 
259 
b. Aquatic; feet with a fringe of long, bristle-like hairs. 
Neosorex, p. 266 
Family TALPIDjE 
Insectivora of moderate size, of subterranean habits, 
and small eyes and ears, and with the fore limbs more or less 
modified for digging; skull with a zygomatic arch and 
auditory bullae; first upper incisor much larger than the 
second, unicuspidate, and not extending horizontally forward. 
A small family of North American moles. 
Genus SCALOPS (Grk., a mole) 
Scalops lUiger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm. et Avium, p. 126 (181 1). 
Type Sorex aquaticus Linnaeus. 
Animals with robust body; short tail; short legs; front feet very 
large, broad and adapted for digging; fore and hind toes webbed ; fur 
soft and thick; skull long, narrow, and flat; brain-case large ; palate 
broad; dentition: i. f ; c. ^; pm, f ; m. f X 2 = 40; functional denti- 
tion: i. f ; c. ^; pm. f ; m. f ; X 2 = 36; first upper incisor large, 
next two minute. 
The moles are animals of exclusively underground habits, 
rarely seen on the surface, but living in their burrows, which 
they extend in various directions in their search for food, 
throwing up mounds of earth here and there. They are 
exclusively of carnivorous habits, earthworms being their chief 
food, though they will eat any kind of flesh. It is stated 
that if two are confined in a cage without food the stronger 
invariably devours the weaker. 
The short fore legs with the wide naked hands and palms 
turned outwardly are admirable instruments for digging. 
The short velvety fur almost entirely hides the eye, and the 
ear has no conch. They have from five to six young, and 
the period of gestation is about six weeks. In North America 
no moles have been found south of Mexico, and the present 
genus is exclusively North American, including, according 
to Elliot's Check-list, two species and four subspecies, one 
of which is found in eastern Colorado. 
