The eyes of golden moles are covered with a layer of skin. They likely use their senses of smell, touch, and hearing extensively in perceiving their environment and communicating.
Communication Channels: tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Perception Channels: tactile ; acoustic ; vibrations ; chemical
Chrysospalax trevelyani populations face habitat loss from the degradation of forests due to clearing, firewood collection, stripping of trees, and the overgrazing of livestock. They are also preyed upon by domestic, feral dogs.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: endangered
There are no known adverse effects of giant golden moles on humans.
Giant golden moles help to control insect pests that they prey on.
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
Giant golden moles are important predators of earthworms and invertebrates in their forest ecosystems.
Giant golden moles are insectivores that feed mostly on earthworms, termites, and millipedes. They forage under litter on the forest floor.
Animal Foods: insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods; terrestrial worms
Primary Diet: carnivore (Insectivore , Vermivore)
Giant golden moles are found in the forests of the eastern Cape of South Africa.
Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )
This species seems to be restricted to large patches of coastal or Afromontane forests, although it is sometimes present in adjacent grasslands. These forests must have a deep litter layer, well developed undergrowth, and soft soils. Giant golden moles do not occur in rocky terrain or on steep slopes and are absent from the commercial forest plantations that have been established in the region.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Information not known at this time.
Most golden moles are usually about 12 to 17 cm long and weigh from 85 to 142 grams. Giant golden moles are about 20 cm in length and as heavy as 539 grams. Their fur is usually reddish brown, but is quite variable, ranging from black to pale yellow. The fur usually has an iridescent sheen of coppery gold, purple, green or bronze. Their bodies are fusiform, with large claws on their short, powerful forelegs. They have no external tail or ears, and their eyes are covered by skin. Their noses are pink and tapered. They have two layers of fur, an outer, moisture proof layer of guard hairs, and an insulating wooly underlayer. Their nose has a leather pad on it to protect the nostrils as they push through the soil. The first and fourth digits on their forelegs are vestigial, while the fifth digit has disappeared entirely. The third toe in front is greatly enlarged. They have five digits on their rear feet and they are webbed to shove the soil behind them as they dig.
Range mass: 539 (high) g.
Average length: 20 cm.
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Domestic dogs have been reported preying on giant golden moles. Nocturnal snakes, owls, and mammalian carnivores are potential predators as well. Giant golden moles remain safe in burrows throughout the day, avoiding diurnal predators.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
As part of a courtship ritual, males makes chirruping sounds at females while bobbing their heads and stomping their feet. In response to this, females make rasping and squealing noises.
Mating System: polygynous
There is little available information on breeding behavior in giant golden moles. It is believed that they are polyestrous and breed throughout the year. In general, females raise one to two young per litter.
Breeding interval: Breeding intervals are not known for giant golden moles.
Breeding season: It is thought that giant golden moles breed throughout the year.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Females nurse and care for their young until they are weaned. Little is known about the kinds of parental care provided before independence in giant golden moles.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female)
The giant golden mole (Chrysospalax trevelyani) is a small mammal found in Africa. At 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in length, it is the largest of the golden mole species.[2] The mole has dark, glossy brown fur; the name golden comes from the Greek word for green-gold,[3] the family Chrysochloridae name.
The giant golden mole has a subterranean lifestyle.[3] It has large claws, powerful forelimbs, no external tail or ears, wedge-shaped head, leather pad, and skin covering the eyes. It is approximately 208-235 millimetres in length and 410-500 grams in weight.[3] With dark and brown skin on the upper parts and faded on the underparts,[2] the hair is longer and coarser than any other species of golden mole: thick, with dense, woolly underfur.[3]
The largest, rarest, and most endangered of all 17 species of golden moles,[4] the giant golden mole spends most of its time underground and is blind and deaf. It is nocturnal, hunting mostly at night, but also in some cool and cloudy daytime conditions.[3] It is solitary; it does not form groups, despite some social behavior such as hibernating in others' burrows among the roots of trees in winter, only moving slightly to keep its body temperature in range and twitching to maintain body temperature while sleeping.[4] Female Giant Golden moles give birth to one or two offspring at a time while it has stocks of food supply.
The giant golden mole digs semi-permanent tunnels for hunting food and may feed on the surface hiding in the leaf litter. It eats mainly millipedes and giant earthworms, but also crickets, cockroaches, grasshoppers, worms, and snails.[4]
The giant golden mole is a subterranean small mammal, living in chambers and passages underneath a very specific habitat, forests with soft soil, deep leaf litter layers, and well-developed undergrowth.[2] The giant golden mole is endemic to South Africa, mostly in a restricted area in the Eastern Cape.[1]
The giant golden mole was classified as Endangered (EN) in 2010 on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The population is decreasing[1] due to habitat loss resulting mainly from human activities affecting its habitat such as firewood collection, bark stripping, cutting for construction, overgrazing of livestock, and clearance of forest. Moreover, the giant golden mole is preyed on by domestic dogs in that area.[3][4]
The giant golden mole currently receives little protection, and is not a main conservation target.[3] Research is needed to protect this species and to assess the status and viability of the remaining populations.
The giant golden mole (Chrysospalax trevelyani) is a small mammal found in Africa. At 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in length, it is the largest of the golden mole species. The mole has dark, glossy brown fur; the name golden comes from the Greek word for green-gold, the family Chrysochloridae name.
