The Golden Mole: and Other Living Treasure: 'A rare and magical book.' Bill Bryson

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MacPhee, R. D. E. & Novacek, M. J. 1993. Definition and relationships of Lipotyphla. Pp. 13-31. In Mammal Phylogeny: Placentals (F. S. Szalay, ed.). Springer Verlag, New York. It is among my proudest boasts, that I was massive Rundell fan before she became a national treasure."

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Populations of golden moles are often restricted to patches of suitable habitat with friable soils and abundant invertebrate prey, so that the distribution of demes is clumped, even within the more widespread taxa. Consequently, different species seldom coexist and compete for resources, even though their distribution may be broadly sympatric. If two species occur in the same area they tend to occupy different microhabitats, probably as a result of ecological displacement. Thus, for example, the Fynbos golden mole ( A. corriae) and Cape golden mole ( C. asiatica) occur together at Stellenbosch, but they inhabit different soil types. At Wakkerstroom, the Highveld golden mole ( Amblysomus septentrionalis) is found only in grasslands and around marshes, whereas Sclater’s golden mole ( Chlorotalpa sclateri) is restricted to scrub associated with montane cliffs and gorges (Roberts 1951). Most of the species listed in threatened categories have restricted or fragmented distributions where populations are being subjected to increasing habitat degradation as a result of human activities, most notably mining, urbanization, agriculture and the poor management of indigenous forests. Most other species construct both foraging superficial burrows and deeper permanent burrows for residence. Residential burrows are relatively complex in form and may penetrate as far as 1 metre (3ft 3in) below ground and include deep chambers for use for refuge, and other chambers as latrines. They push excavated soil up to the surface, as in mole-hills, or compact it into the tunnel walls. Females give birth to one to three hairless young in a grass-lined nest within the burrow system. Breeding occurs throughout the year. The adults are solitary, and their burrowing territory may be aggressively defended from intruders, especially where resources are relatively scarce. [4] Status [ edit ]Duncan, P. & Wrangham, R. W. 1971. On the ecology and distribution of subterranean insectivores in Kenya. Journal of Zoology, London 164: 149-163. The Golden Mole is shot through with Rundell’s characteristic wit and swagger. The position of the mother wombat’s pouch, facing down, with the baby wombat peering out from between her legs “explains why it was a kangaroo who got to be in Winnie-the-Pooh”. Edward the Confessor is “a king so morally upright he was practically levitating”. Amelia Earhart is “the valiant, hell-for-leather aviatrix with the face of a lion” who, Rundell speculates, may have been eaten by a hermit crab. Not that Rundell condemns hermit crabs. In fact, learning about how they live in everything from tin cans to coconut halves, she finds: “More and more, in these darker days, I admire resourcefulness. I love their tenacity: forging lives from the shells of the dead, making homes from the debris that the world, in its chaos, has left out for them.” When maintaining golden moles in captivity, room temperature is acceptable in moderate climates, but it is advisable to keep them in a temperature-controlled room if daily room temperatures drop below 15C or rise above 30C. As a general rule of thumb, a temperature of 15-25C is recommended; this range does not disrupt their endogenous daily torpor rhythms, and this torpor considerably reduces the amount of food they consume. Moles in torpor should not be handled excessively, as this awakens them, and seems to result in considerable stress, in extreme cases leading to the cessation of eating and physiological decline of the individual. Conservation Most previous taxonomic revisions of golden moles were largely intuitive, or based on only elementary statistical evaluation of few specimens, leading to conflicting classifications that obscured rather than resolved inter-specific relationships. Based on phylogenetic analyses of morphometric and cytogenetic variation in three genera, Bronner (1995a,b) proposed a new classification including a newly-described species (Bronner 2000). Following Simonetta (1968), two subfamilies may be recognized, albeit with differing species allocations: the Chrysochlorinae, in which the malleus bone of the middle ear is enlarged with a spherical or club-like shape ( Carpitalpa - 1 spp., Chlorotalpa - 2 spp., Chrysospalax - 2 spp., Chrysochloris - 3 spp., Cryptochloris - 2 spp. and Eremitalpa - 1 spp.); and the Amblysominae, in which the malleus is not expanded and has the typical mammalian shape ( Amblysomus - 5 spp., Neamblysomus - 2 spp. and Calcochloris 3 spp.). This is the currently accepted taxonomy (Bronner & Jenkins 2005), though some minor changes may result when a phylogeny based on nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences (currently being undertaken at the University of Pretoria by members of the Afrotheria Specialist Group) becomes available. Distribution For highlights from the latest issue, our archive and the blog, as well as news, events and exclusive promotions.

Golden Mole by Richard Girling | Waterstones The Hunt for the Golden Mole by Richard Girling | Waterstones

a b Kuyper, Margaret (1984). Macdonald, D. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 764–765. ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5.Roberts, A. 1951. The Mammals of South Africa. Trustees of the “Mammals of South Africa” Book Fund, Pretoria. 700 pp. Springer M.S., Stanhope M.J., Madsen O. & de Jong W.W. 2004. Molecules consolidate the placental mammal tree. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:430–438. Golden Moles share a number of features, varying by species, seldom seen elsewhere among living mammals, including three forearm long-bones, hyoid- mandible articulation, and a hypertrophied malleus. [5] Some species have hypertrophied (enlarged) middle ear ossicles, in particular the malleus. These animals have the largest malleus relative to body size of any animal. [9] This morphology may be adapted for the detection of seismic signals. [10] [11] [12] In this respect there is some apparent convergent evolution to burrowing reptiles in the family Amphisbaenidae. A book as rare and precious as a golden mole. A joyous catalogue of curiosities that builds into a timely reminder that life on planet is worth our wonder." Rundell shows us that the human imagination often looks pedestrian next to nature’s real ingenuity; our fairytales can seem like mundane placeholders for more wonderful truths. It was once proposed that storks “wintered on the moon”; we couldn’t have imagined that a mere two centuries later their wings would reveal the key to human fight. No Roman naturalist or German scholastic would have dared suggest swifts fly the equivalent of five times round the Earth every year. The US Navy models underwater missiles on the body shape of bluefin tuna. But biotech is yet to emulate the properties of the golden orb spider’s web, which can last years.