Somali golden mole

Somali golden mole
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Afrosoricida
Family:	Chrysochloridae
Genus:	Calcochloris
Species:	C. tytonis
Binomial name
Calcochloris tytonis (Simonetta, 1968)
Somali golden mole range
Synonyms
Amblysomus tytonis Chlorotalpa tytonis

The Somali golden mole (Calcochloris tytonis) is a golden mole endemic to Somalia. In 1964, Dr. Alberto Simonetta of the University of Florence discovered the mole's jaw and ear bone fragments in a barn owl pellet in Jowhar, Somalia. ^[2] The Somali golden mole differs from the other species in its family (Chrysochloridae) because the shape of its jaw is distinct; although the length of the lower jaw fits within the size range of the skulls of species Amblysomus leucorhinus and Amblysomus sclateri , the width of the ascending parts of the jaw is much bigger (2mm) than that of the species it most closely matches ( Amblysomus leucorhinus ). ^[3]

References

1. Maree, S. (2015). "Calcochloris tytonis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015 e.T4767A21285700. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T4767A21285700.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
2. Girling, Richard (2014). The Hunt for the Golden Mole: All Creatures Great and Small and Why They Matter. UK: Chatto & Windus. p. 86. ISBN   978-1-61902-450-2.
3. Simonetta, A. M. (1968). A New Golden Mole From Somalia With an Appendix on the Taxonomy of the Family Chrysochloridae (Mammalia, Insectivora). Monitore Zoologico Italiano. Supplemento, 2:1, 27–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/03749444.1968.10736749

• Bronner, G.N.; Jenkins, P.D. (2005). "Order Afrosoricida". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 81. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.