Levant mole
Species of mammal
title: "Levant mole" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["talpa", "taxonomy-articles-created-by-polbot", "mammals-described-in-1906", "taxa-named-by-oldfield-thomas", "mammals-of-turkey", "mammals-of-azerbaijan", "mammals-of-russia", "fauna-of-armenia", "fauna-of-georgia-(country)", "mammals-of-the-middle-east"] description: "Species of mammal" topic_path: "geography/turkey" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant_mole" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Species of mammal ::
| name = Levant mole | image = Talpa levantis.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | genus = Talpa | species = levantis | authority = Thomas, 1906 | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | range_map2_caption = Range of T. l. transcaucasica | synonyms = | subdivision = T. l. transcaucasica Dahl, 1944
T. l. dogramacii Kefelioğlu, 2020 | range_map = Talpa levantis distribution map.svg | range_map_caption = Range of T. l. levantis | range_map2 = Talpa transcaucasica distribution map.svg
The Levant mole (Talpa levantis) is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae.
Taxonomy and evolution
The Levant mole was first described as a subspecies of Talpa caeca by Oldfield Thomas in 1906, and recognized as a full species in 1973 by Spitzenberg.
Moles in the genus Talpa are morphologically very similar to each other, which has made separating the species difficult before the wide availability of genetic analysis. The Talysch mole (T. talyschensis) was formerly considered a synonym of T. levantis, but more recent studies have found it to be distinct. A 2020 taxonomic analysis found three distinct genetic populations in the western, central, and eastern ends of its range, and separated them into three subspecies: Talpa levantis dogramacii (newly named in this study, after Salih Doğramacı), T. l. levantis, and T. l. transcaucasica. Based on genetic data, recent studies, including Demırtaş et al (2020) and Gündüz et al. (2023) have separated the eastern subspecies of T. levantis as its own species, T. transcaucasica, the Transcaucasian mole.
A fossil example of T. levantis is known from Yarimburgaz Cave in Turkey, dated to the Middle Pleistocene.
Description
The Levant mole is a small mole, 103 mm to 149 mm long. The eyes are covered with a layer of transparent skin, and the eyelids are permanently closed.
Unlike other species in the genus, it has 38 pairs of chromosomes.
Distribution and habitat
The Levant mole lives in wet or damp soil, and can be found in both fields and forests. Including T. transcaucasica, it is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey. If T. transcaucasica's separation is taken into account, then T. levantis is endemic to Turkey.
References
References
- Yigit, N.. (2016). "''Talpa levantis''".
- (2020-02-01). "What should we call the Levant mole? Unravelling the systematics and demography of ''Talpa levantis'' Thomas, 1906 sensu lato (Mammalia: Talpidae)". Mammalian Biology.
- Kryštufek, Boris. (28 Feb 2013). "The distribution of the Levant Mole, ''Talpa levantis''". Zoology in the Middle East.
- "''Talpa levantis'' O. Thomas, 1906".
- (2020). "Taxonomic revision of the Levant moles of Turkey (Mammalia: Talpidae)". Bonn Zoological Bulletin.
- (2025-03-18). "Morphological, linear, and geometric morphometric differences (skull, mandible, and pelvis) among subspecies of ''Talpa levantis'' (Eulipotyphla: Talpidae) with molecular divergence (mtDNA and nuclear DNA)". Turkish Journal of Zoology.
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