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![biomedicalephemera:
Giant Golden Mole - Chrysochloris trevelyani [now Chrysospalax trevelyani]
If there were ever a mammal worthy of being given the common name of “Blorp”, this would be it. But no, they get to be called the “giant golden mole”, despite not being all that giant, or all that golden. I’m still calling them Blorps.
These pudgers are ancient, mostly-desert-dwelling Gondwanan creatures which are remarkably well adapted to climates with significant thermal shifts. During times of extreme heat or cold, their bodies can go into a state of torpor, almost stalling their basal metabolism rate, and completely turning off their internal thermoregulation until the temperature returns to a more amicable range.
The family of golden moles, Chrysochloridae, is not related to the “true moles” (Talpidae), but get their common name from their similar appearance, which developed through convergent evolution. Most scientists agree that the golden moles are more closely related to hedgehogs and shrews than to true moles, though some theories group them with the tenrecs. Until full genetic profiles are established for the Insectivoridae, we probably won’t have a definitive answer.
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1875.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/56ecf1cb7533c04d7a5c2c61b7a434bd/tumblr_mf8gsmMyHl1qk931ho1_r1_500.jpg)
Giant Golden Mole - Chrysochloris trevelyani [now Chrysospalax trevelyani]
If there were ever a mammal worthy of being given the common name of “Blorp”, this would be it. But no, they get to be called the “giant golden mole”, despite not being all that giant, or all that golden. I’m still calling them Blorps.
These pudgers are ancient, mostly-desert-dwelling Gondwanan creatures which are remarkably well adapted to climates with significant thermal shifts. During times of extreme heat or cold, their bodies can go into a state of torpor, almost stalling their basal metabolism rate, and completely turning off their internal thermoregulation until the temperature returns to a more amicable range.
The family of golden moles, Chrysochloridae, is not related to the “true moles” (Talpidae), but get their common name from their similar appearance, which developed through convergent evolution. Most scientists agree that the golden moles are more closely related to hedgehogs and shrews than to true moles, though some theories group them with the tenrecs. Until full genetic profiles are established for the Insectivoridae, we probably won’t have a definitive answer.
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1875.
(via mudwerks)
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A selection of engravings from Animalium quadrupedum by 17th century engraver Adriaen Collaert from Antwerp.
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The skull of the European Mole, Talpa europaea
From: On the structure and development of the skull in the mammalia by William Kitchen Parker (1874)
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n44_w1150 by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.
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n110_w1150 by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.
The American shrew-mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii)
The quadrupeds of North America. v.1.
New York,V.G. Audubon,1851-54.
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34896089 -
Posted on March 13, 2012 with 31 notes
Source: nrm.se
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Talpa occidentalis - Spanish Mole
Fauna Iberica: Mamiferos. Angel Cabrera, 1914.
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n88_w1150 by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.
The Common Mole, Talpa europaea
British mammals…by Sir Harry Johnston.
London,Hutchinson,1903.
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9409237 -
n28_w1150 by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.
The European Mole, Talpa europaea
