Scapanus
Genus of mammals
title: "Scapanus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["scapanus", "mammal-genera", "mammals-of-north-america", "taxonomy-articles-created-by-polbot"] description: "Genus of mammals" topic_path: "general/scapanus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapanus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of mammals ::
| image = Scapanus latimanus2.jpg | image_caption = Broad-footed mole (Scapanus latimanus) | fossil_range = Mid Miocene-Recent | type_species = Scalops townsendii | taxon = Scapanus | authority = Pomel, 1848
Scapanus is a genus of moles in the family Talpidae. They live in North America from west of the Rockies south to Baja California del Norte, and north to British Columbia, wherever conditions permit a mole population; that is to say, apart from the most sandy, rocky, or developed places. As they are one genus, they are very closely related, but as species, they rarely if ever interbreed successfully.
It contains the following living species:
- Mexican mole (S. anthonyi)
- Northern broad-footed mole (S. latimanus)
- Southern broad-footed mole (S. occultus)
- Coast mole (S. orarius)
- Townsend's mole (S. townsendii)
In addition, there are several extinct species known from fossils.
- Scapanus hagermanensis (Mid Blancan stage, Idaho)
- Scapanus malatinus (Blancan-Quaternary, California)
- Scapanus proceridens (Miocene, Oregon and Idaho)
- Scapanus shultzi (Miocene, California and Oregon)
Distribution
Broad-footed moles are primarily Californian, although its range spills over into neighboring states. The coast mole lives primarily in western Oregon, Washington, and southwestern British Columbia, where it often overlaps the smaller range of Townsend's mole. Townsend's mole is one of the largest and most powerful moles, while the coast mole is quite average-sized.
References
- Scapanus, IUCN
References
- {{MSW3
- (2004). "Contribuciones Mastozoológicas En Homenaje A Bernardo Villa". Instituto De Biología e Ins Tituto De Ecología, Unam, México.
- (2021-05-09). "Revision of moles in the genus Scapanus". THERYA.
- Hutchison, J. H.. (1987). "Late Pliocene (Blancan) ''Scapanus'' (''Scapanus'')(Talpidae: Mammalia) from the Glenns Ferry Formation of Idaho". PaleoBios.
- Hutchison, J. H.. "Moles of the ''Scapanus latimanus'' group (Talpidae, Insectivora) from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of California.". Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
- "''Scapanus proceridens'' Hutchison 1968 (mole)". Paleobiology Database.
- "''Scapanus shultz'' Tedford 1961". Paleobiology Database.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::