Japanese shrew mole

For the 2011 Japanese film, see Himizu (film).
Japanese shrew mole
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Talpidae
Subfamily: Talpinae
Tribe: Urotrichini
Genus: Urotrichus
Species: U. talpoides
Binomial name
Urotrichus talpoides
Temminck, 1841
Japanese shrew mole range

The Japanese shrew mole or Himizu (ヒミズ) (Urotrichus talpoides) is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is endemic to Japan and is found on Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Awaji Island, Shodo Island, Oki Islands, Tsushima Island, Goto Islands, Mishima Island (Yamaguchi Prefecture), and Awashima Island (Niigata Prefecture), but is absent from Hokkaido. It is one of three Urotrichini and it is the only species in the genus Urotrichus. It is common between sea level and approximately 2,000 m.[1]

Heinrich Bürger, assistant of Philipp Franz von Siebold, collected specimens of Urotrichus talpoides near Dejima between 1824 and 1826, found lying dead in the fields, which were ultimately described by Temminck after shipping them to the Netherlands.[2]

Paleontology

Urotrichus talpoides is also known from the late Pleistocene of Japan, while U. gigantius is known from the Miocene of Austria, U. dolichochir from the Miocene of Germany and Slovakia, and an unidentified species from the Miocene of Greece.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Insectivore Specialist Group (1996). "Urotrichus talpoides". Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  2. ↑ "Japanse spitsmuismol". Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  3. ↑ "Urotrichus". fossilworks. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
Wikispecies has information related to: Urotrichus talpoides


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