The Senkaku mole (''Mogera uchidai''), also known as the Ryukyu mole, is a species of

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...

in the family

Talpidae The family Talpidae () includes the moles (some of whom are called shrew moles and desmans) who are small insectivorous mammals of the order Eulipotyphla. Talpids are all digging animals to various degrees: moles are completely subterranean ...

. It was formerly classified as being the only species in the genus '' Nesoscaptor''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the Uotsuri-jima ( ja, 魚釣島;

hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contras ...

: うおつりじま) of the disputed territory of

Senkaku Islands The are a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, administered by Japan. They are located northeast of Taiwan, east of China, west of Okinawa Island, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands. They are known in main ...

, also known as the Diaoyutai Islands (). It is most similar to the

Insular mole The insular mole (''Mogera insularis'') is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is restricted to Hainan Island and Taiwan, where it is also known as the Formosan blind mole. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863. ...

(''Mogera insularis'') of Taiwan and Mainland China.

Ecological threats

Its existence is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, due to the introduction of

domestic goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s in 1978; the goats now number more than 300 on this tiny island. Its conservation status was upgraded to CR in 2010 by the Biodiversity Center of Japan, although the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

still considers that current lack of population data prevents an accurate assessment. New population studies have evaluated the species as vulnerable.

References

External links

Mogera Mammals of Taiwan Mammals of China Mammals of Japan Mammals described in 1991 Senkaku Islands Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic fauna of the Ryukyu Islands {{soricomorpha-stub

Ecological threats

References

Further reading

External links