Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience

Dr. Matthew Mason: Further Information...

University Physiologist Tel: +44 (0)1223 333829, Fax: +44 (0)1223 333840, E-mail: mjm68@cam.ac.uk

Mason, M.J. (2007) Massive mallei in moles: middle ear adaptations subserving seismic sensitivity. Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics 29: 69-76.

This paper focuses on two unrelated families of small, insectivorous, fossorial mammals: the talpid moles (order Eulipotyphla, family Talpidae), familiar animals in North America and Eurasia, and the golden moles (order Afrosoricida, family Chrysochloridae), which occupy a similar ecological niche in sub-Saharan Africa. Some, but not all, genera within both families have long been known to possess greatly hypertrophied mallei. The existing information on the middle ear structures of these animals is reviewed, and some new observations are added. The ear structures of talpids are divided into three functional groups, after Mason (2006), while the golden moles are divided into two functional groups, which coincide with the subfamilies Chrysochlorinae and Amblysominae. The groups are compared, both within and between families, and the implications of the different ear structures are considered in the context of the ecology of the animals in question.

This paper includes the first published illustration of the intact ossicles of the Namib Desert golden mole, Eremitalpa granti namibensis.

Please click here for a pdf copy of this paper.