The Scalopinae, or New World moles, are one of three subfamilies of the family Talpidae, which consists of moles and mole-like animals; the other two subfamilies being the Old World talpids (the Talpinae) and the Chinese shrew-like moles ( Uropsilinae). The Scalopinae are the only Talpidae subfamily to consist entirely of undisputed moles and no mole-like close relatives such as shrew-moles or desmans. They are found in temperate

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and parts of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In

, they exist virtually everywhere soil conditions permit except northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and those areas of northeastern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

where the soil is too sandy. Despite this subfamily being referred to as "New World moles", there are also two species in the mountains of

, each in their own

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus. Morphological and paleontological analyses indicate that both tribes in the subfamily originated in Eurasia during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

and migrated to North America during the Neogene, with the Condylurini later going extinct throughout their Eurasian range. The Scalopini also migrated at least two different times from North America back to Eurasia, with the two Chinese species likely originating from this. In addition, phylogenetic and morphological evidence supports the Condylurini not belonging in the Scalopinae, and occupying a much more basal position in Talpidae.

Taxonomy

The Scalopininae are divided into two tribes, six genera, and ten species: *Tribe Condylurini ** Genus '' Condylura'', the star-nosed mole *Tribe Scalopini ** Genus '' Scalopus'', the common eastern mole ** Genus '' Scapanus'', five species of western moles ** Genus '' Parascalops'', the hairy-tailed mole ** Genus '' Scapanulus'', the Gansu mole **Genus '' Alpiscaptulus'', the Medog mole

References

Talpidae {{Eulipotyphla-stub