Talk:Talpidae

China in the New World

According to several Wikipedia Articles and this page, the Gansu Mole, Scapanulus, belongs to the New World Moles, but is from China and surrounded by Old World Moles! How can this be? There must be some mistake. Chrisrus (talk) 23:38, 10 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No mistake. This is correct. I can think of at least two ways this could have happened. - UtherSRG (talk) 04:34, 11 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Shrew-moles?

"Shrew-moles" are mentioned twice in the lead. Should this be (as it is at present) a link to one species, shrew-mole, or should it refer to the bunch of animals listed at shrew mole? Can someone who knows the subject better than me clarify this? SNALWIBMA ( talk - contribs ) 13:15, 12 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have just been looking into this for a few days, but so far it seems to work like this: The term "shrew mole" is sometimes used to simply mean "small mole," and in others refers to a transitional animal that's not quite a shrew nor a mole. Take a look at these three pictures [1]. It pretty much sums up the Talpidae, which contains desmans, moles, and a "shrew-mole" form, which is neither shrew nor a mole (no large sideways-and-backward shovel-paw-claws. Chrisrus (talk) 19:05, 12 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I should have mentioned this before, but I don't know the answer to the question and have also been waiting to see what the other editors would say. I think, however, that the first mention should go to the disambiguation page and the second mention actually means the Shrew Mole of the Pasific North West and Southwest BC, Canada. Chrisrus (talk) 07:29, 25 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Geez, it'd make things easier if could just call it the American Shrew Mole like everyone else. Chrisrus (talk) 07:29, 25 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Shrew-like moles

"The genus Uropsilus comprises a group of terrestrial, montane mammals endemic to the Hengduan and adjacent mountains. These animals are the most primitive living talpids." ... "The members of Uropsilus possess a shrew-like body shape, conspicuous external ears, a slender tail as long as the head-body length, and compressed claws without specialized characters for burrowing."^[1] This genus represents the entire subfamily Uropsilinae, which recently ar refered to as Asian shrew-like moles. This implies the description of the Talpids is currently incorrect, and raises the question what the common characters of the talpids are that set them apart from other Soritoids.

^ Wan, Tao; He, Kai; Jiang, Xue-Long (2013). "Multilocus phylogeny and cryptic diversity in Asian shrew-like moles (Uropsilus, Talpidae): implications for taxonomy and conservation". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 13: 232. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 92 (help)

Dwergenpaartje (talk) 07:53, 10 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Wan, Tao; He, Kai; Jiang, Xue-Long (2013). "Multilocus phylogeny and cryptic diversity in Asian shrew-like moles (Uropsilus, Talpidae): implications for taxonomy and conservation". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 13: 232. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 92 (help)

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