Japanese mole

Japanese mole[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Eulipotyphla
Family:	Talpidae
Genus:	Mogera
Species:	M. wogura
Binomial name
Mogera wogura (Temminck, 1842)
Japanese mole range
Synonyms
Mogera kobeae Thomas, 1905

The Japanese mole (Mogera wogura; 土竜 or コウベモグラ, lit. "Earth Dragon"), also known as Temminck's mole, is a species of mole endemic to Japan.^[3] A solitary and diurnal species, it can live for up to 3.5 years in the wild. Their sizes vary depending on the temperature and the hardness of the soil they reside in.^[4]

The Kobe mole (M. kobeae) was formerly described as a distinct species, but is now known to be conspecific with M. wogura.^[2][3]

This species has shown signs of genetic drift through either paripatric or peripatric speciation. This conclusion has been reached due to the dental anomalies found within the Japanese Mole populations, depending on the region where the Japanese mole is found.^[5]

M. wogura is believed to have derived from the arrival of its ancestor to Japan around 0.1 to 0.01 MYA. This was around the last recorded glacial period.^[6]

Locomotion

The Japanese mole (Mogera wogura) uses two methods of locomotion: crawling and burrowing, which provide an insight into its highly evolved mechanism of strong neural control. The Japanese mole's neural connections in its thoracic and lumbar vertebrate have an extremely strong connection with its fore and hindlimbs, which aid it in locomotion.^[7] They use these skills to remove piles of loose dirt through stroke-like movements compared to that of swimming.^[7]

Ecology

Based on observations of previous specimens of the litter size of M. tokudae (including M. etigo), M. imaizumii (Abe 1968), M. wogura (Fujiwara 1960C, 1962), and Hoslett and Imaizumi (1966, 1967) it was shown that the season of reproduction for the Mogera species is usually limited in spring. However, in 2004 there were three young offspring of M. wogura in their nest in October within western Japan. There was a sexually active male and lactating female, both of the M. wogura species discovered in both September and October respectively.

References

1. Hutterer, R. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 306–307. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
2. Cassola, F. (2016). "Mogera wogura". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T41467A22323418. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T41467A22323418.en. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
3. "Explore the Database". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
4. Zemlemerova, Elena; Abramov, Alexey; Kryukov, Alexey; Lebedev, Vladimir; Min, Mi-Sook; Lee, Seo-Jin; Bannikova, Anna (2019-02-17). "Genetic and morphologic diversity of the moles (Talpomorpha, Talpidae, Mogera ) from the continental Far East". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research: jzs.12272. doi:10.1111/jzs.12272. ISSN 0947-5745.
5. Asahara, Masakazu; Kryukov, Alexey; Motokawa, Masaharu (2012-01-01). "Dental anomalies in the Japanese mole Mogera wogura from northeast China and the Primorsky region of Russia". Acta Theriologica. 57 (1): 41–48. doi:10.1007/s13364-011-0050-0. ISSN 2190-3743. S2CID 256121515.
6. Tsuchiya, Kimiyuki; Suzuki, Hitoshi; Shinohara, Akio; Harada, Masashi; Wakana, Shigeharu; Sakaizumi, Mitsuru; Han, Sang-Hoon; Lin, Liang-Kong; Kryukov, Alexei P. (2000). "Molecular phylogeny of East Asian moles inferred from the sequence variation of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene". Genes & Genetic Systems. 75 (1): 17–24. doi:10.1266/ggs.75.17. ISSN 1341-7568. PMID 10846617.
7. Wada, Naomi; Matsuo, Taiki; Kashimura, Atsushi; Higurashi, Yasuo (March 2021). "Underground locomotion in moles: kinematic and electromyographic studies of locomotion in the Japanese mole (Mogera wogura)". Journal of Comparative Physiology B. 191 (2): 411–425. doi:10.1007/s00360-021-01346-0. ISSN 0174-1578. PMID 33575865. S2CID 231899473.

External links

• Mole species and subspecies
• Survey of Talpinae status, discusses M. wogura