Mole's Star

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The renowned physicist John Archibald Wheeler once suggested, “In any field, find the strangest thing and then explore it.” Certainly it is hard to imagine an animal much stranger than the star-nosed mole, a creature you might picture emerging from a flying saucer to greet a delegation of curious earthlings. Its nose is ringed by 22 fleshy appendages that are usually a blur of motion as the mole explores its environment. Add large clawed forelimbs, and you've got an irresistible biological mystery. How did this creature evolve? What is the star? How does it function, and what is it used for? These are some of the questions that I set out to answer about this unusual mammal. It turns out that the star-nosed mole has more than an interesting face; it also has a remarkably specialized brain that may help answer long-standing questions about the organization and evolution of the mammalian nervous system.

Mole (animal) - Wikipedia Mole (animal) - Wikipedia

Their long bodies, short tails, conical heads, and leathery outer skin enable the marsupial mole to navigate burrows. The gestation period of the Eastern (North America) mole (Scalopus aquaticus) is approximately 42 days. Three to five young are born, mainly in March and early April. [13] The typical mole species is somewhere in between these two extremes. It measures about 6 inches long and weighs about 4 ounces or less than the size of a chipmunk. Males are called boars, while females are called sows. The sexes are very similar in size and appearance, but female anatomy may undergo significant changes during the breeding season. The same phenomenon occurs in the visual system, in which the small retinal fovea has by far the largest portion in visual cortex maps. We also discovered that neurons representing the 11th appendage responded to tactile stimulation of very small areas, or receptive fields, on the 11th appendage, whereas neurons representing the other appendages responded solely to stimulation of larger areas. The smaller receptive fields for the 11th appendage reflect a greater acuity for this region and mirror the organization of visual systems.You can also classify these burrowing mammals by tribe and genus. For example, the subfamily Uropsilinae consists of the Uropsilus genus with five species of mole. a b Catania, Kenneth C.; Remple, Fiona E. (2005). "Asymptotic prey profitability drives star-nosed moles to the foraging speed limit". Nature. 433 (7025): 519–522. Bibcode: 2005Natur.433..519C. doi: 10.1038/nature03250. PMID 15690041. S2CID 4421551. Most moles aren’t sizable animals, measuring between four and seven inches long. Their rear feet have a paddle-like shape to aid them in digging deep underground burrows, but most people pay more attention to their front paws. Feldhamer, George A.; Thompson, Bruce C.; Chapman, Joseph A., eds. (2003). Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management and Conservation (2nded.). Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801874161. Three sections of the mole's neocortex respond to tactile stimulation, analyzing information from more than 100,000 nerve fibers. The neurons themselves form the shape of a star.

Star Rail: In the Dangerous Muddy Swamp | Push Square Honkai: Star Rail: In the Dangerous Muddy Swamp | Push Square

At the top of each Eimer's organ, however, lies a receptor unique to moles. A series of nerve endings forms a circular pattern of neural swellings in a hub-and-spoke arrangement just below the outer skin surface. Our recordings from the brains of star-nosed moles suggest that this latter sensory component provides the most significant aspect of touch perception: an index of the microscopic texture of various surfaces. Many mole species possess surprisingly large home ranges, at least when compared with other small mammals. For example, a male eastern mole ( Scalopus aquaticus) in North America was recorded as inhabiting more than two acres. File:European mole animal.jpg – Wikimedia Commons”. Accessed July 02, 2019. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:European_mole_animal.jpg. Although these summarized steps of mechanical transduction give a hint of how the star-nosed mole converts mechanical information into potential actions, the entire mechanism of transduction behind this intricate mechanoreceptor is still unknown and further studies are required.Sawyer, Eva; Leitch, Duncan; Catania, Kenneth (1 October 2014). "Organization of the Spinal Trigeminal Nucleus in Star-Nosed Moles". Journal of Comparative Neurology. 522 (14): 3335–3350. doi: 10.1002/cne.23605. PMC 4107073. PMID 24715542. Moles can pose a danger when they feel like a predator is invading their burrow. They become staunchly defensive, then. Moles also spread diseases, so they’re dangerous in plenty of ways. What’s the Difference Between Moles and Mice?

Moles | National Wildlife Federation Moles | National Wildlife Federation

According to the first prophecy of the 'Six Kings to follow King John', written about 1312, the six kings could be likened to animals. The sixth king after John would be the Mouldwarp or Mole, who would be proud, contemptible and cowardly, having a skin like a goat. The prophecy gained popularity during the 14th century and was used by the enemies of Henry IV alluded to by Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part 1. It was again used during the disturbances leading to the Pilgrimage of Grace 1535–7 but this time was applied by the rebels to Henry VIII. The Star-Nosed Mole Takes Adaptation To The Extreme - Science Friday, 28 April 2017 (Ira Flatow interview with Ken Catania) That’s because the pre pollex doesn’t develop at the same time as a mole’s other fingers, and its additional thumb branches off a wrist bone, similar to how giant pandas end up with thumbs. a b Catania, Kenneth C.; Kaas, Jon H. (1997). "Somatosensory Fovea in the Star-Nosed Mole: Behavioral Use of the Star in Relation to Innervation Patterns and Cortical Representation". The Journal of Comparative Biology. 387 (2): 215–233. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-9861(19971020)387:2<215::AID-CNE4>3.0.CO;2-3. PMID 9336224. S2CID 23541209. The star-nosed mole is perhaps the strangest-looking species of mole. To give you an idea of what it looks like, you should picture 22 tentacle-like structures jutting out from the nose. These tentacles make the star-nosed mole extremely sensitive to vibrations and electricity produced by prey.In 1996, Vanderbilt PhD candidate Paul Marasco determined that the threshold by which the star-like structure senses the mechanical stimuli depends on which type of the Eimer’s organ was excited. He characterized three main classes of Eimer’s receptors, including one of slow adaptation ( Tonic receptor) and two of rapid adaptation ( Phasic receptor). The tonic receptor has a response similar to that of a Merkel cell- neurite complex. It has free terminals and is therefore able to detect pressure and texture with a high sensitivity and at a Random Sustained Discharge. The rapid adapting responses include a Pacinian-like response based on an (on-off) response caused by pressure and mechanical vibrations with maximum sensitivity to stimuli at a frequency of 250 Hz. The differences between both rapid responses rely on the fact that one of them only has a response during the compression phase. [16] [22] Frequency sensitivity [ edit ]

Moles, facts and photos - National Geographic Moles, facts and photos - National Geographic

When golden mole species procreate, female moles may birth litters of one to three pups. They don’t breed at any specific time of the year but throughout the year as needed. The small and defenseless mole animals are often preyed upon by foxes, coyotes, weasels, snakes, hawks, and owls. Because the moles are so vulnerable above ground, the burrow provides a natural defense against most predators. However, this may not save the mole from predators with a very good ability for digging.Fifteen Facts About Moles – Pest Control Products”. Accessed July 02, 2019. https://www.pest-control-products.net/907/moles/fifteen-facts-about-moles/. a b c d Catania, Kenneth C. (1999). "A nose that looks like a hand and acts like an eye. Star-nosed mole". J Comp Physiol A. 185 (4): 367–72. doi: 10.1007/s003590050396. PMID 10555270. S2CID 15216919.