Aquitanian mole

Fascinating facts about the Aquitanian mole

• The Aquitanian mole entered scientific literature only in 2017, when a team of three zoologists formally introduced it as a distinct species. Those researchers - Violaine Nicolas, Jessica Martínez-Vargas and Jean-Pierre Hugot - provided the first detailed description and gave the animal its name. The specific epithet aquitania refers to the historic Aquitaine region, which lies within the area where the mole is most common.
• The Aquitanian mole's eyes are completely sealed by a membrane and its eyelids are fused, rendering the eyes invisible beneath the skin. This contrasts sharply with the European mole, whose eyes remain open and uncovered.
• Compared with its close relatives, the Aquitanian mole is noticeably larger, with a body length ranging from 142 to 156 mm and a weight between 72 and 106 g. Its hind legs are also proportionally longer, measuring 20 to 23 mm.
• The Aquitanian mole occupies a narrow band that stretches from the southwestern corner of France across the border into northern Spain. Its core range lies south and west of the Loire River, although the river does not constitute an absolute limit. Individuals of this species have been recorded on both banks, indicating that it can share territory with the European mole where their ranges meet. This pattern suggests pockets of sympatry in the border region.
• Most Aquitanian moles are found to the south and west of the Loire River, a line that roughly separates them from the European mole's main area. Nevertheless, the river is not an impermeable barrier; specimens of both species have been trapped on the opposite side of the river from their typical zones.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Aquitanian mole

In the shadowy realm of the underground, the Aquitanian mole navigates its subterranean world with purposeful intent, its powerful front limbs and long, sensitive snout guiding it through the dark, damp tunnels it painstakingly excavates. As it moves, the earth yields to its insistent probing, revealing a hidden landscape of narrow passageways and secret chambers, a testament to the mole's remarkable engineering prowess. With each deliberate stroke of its spade-like paws, the Aquitanian mole reshapes its surroundings, crafting a mysterious, unseen domain that is at once its refuge and its kingdom.

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