38.

Sado Mole

Mogera tokudae

French: Taupe de Sado / German: Sado-Maulwurf / Spanish: Topo de Sado

Other common names: Tokuda's Mole

Taxonomy. Mogera tokudae Kuroda, 1940,

Sado Island, Japan.

Mogera tokudae occurs on Sado Island, and this restricted distribution is suggested to have formed during the Quaternary histo- ry of the Japanese mole fauna. Mogera etigo is the oldest lineage of Japanese moles, and its distribution might have been displaced by the younger lineages of M. imaizumii and M. wogura. Monotypic.

Distribution. Sado I (Japan).

Descriptive notes. Head—body 131-5-163 mm, tail 23-27-5 mm, hindfoot 20-21-5 mm; weight 82:5-120-5 g. Tail ratio is 4-1-20-9%. The Sado Mole is large. Summer pelage is reddish brown, nearly clove-brown, or darker above, and nearly cinnamon-brown below. Skull is large. Rostrum is relatively narrow, and interorbital portion is broad. Braincase is wide and short. Upper incisor row is clearly Vshaped and projected forward. Dental formulaisI3/2,C1/1,P4/4,M 3/3 (x2) =42. Dental anomalies in form of absent and connate teeth were found in 17-5% of specimens. There are 7 cervical, 13 thoracic, 6 lumbar, 6 sacral, and 13 caudal vertebrae. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 36 and FNa = 60.

Habitat. Alluvial plains with soft soil and steep mountains.

Food and Feeding. The Sado Mole eats earthworms (mainly Pheretima spp.) and oriental mole crickets (Gryllotalpa orientalis).

Breeding. Litters of the Sado Mole have 2-3 young.

Activity patterns. The Sado Mole is Fossorial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Abe (1967 1968, 1995), Kawada (2016), Kawada, Endo et al. (2011), Kawada, Harada et al. (2001), Ohdachi et al. (2015), Shinohara, Suzuki et al. (2004), Yoshiyuki (1986).