Desman

Subfamily of Eurasian insectivores

For other uses, see Desman (disambiguation).

Desmanini[1]

Temporal range: Late Oligocene–Recent

PreꞒ

Russian desman (Desmana moschata)
Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Mammalia
Order:  | Eulipotyphla
Family:  | Talpidae
Subfamily:  | Talpinae
Tribe:  | Desmanini
Thomas, 1912

Desmans are diving insectivores of the tribe Desmanini (also considered a subfamily, Desmaninae) in the mole family, Talpidae.

This tribe consists of two extant monotypic genera of semiaquatic insectivores found in Europe: one in Russia and the other in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and Pyrenees. Both species are endangered, the Russian desman critically so.[2][3] They have webbed paws and their front paws are not well-adapted for digging. Desmans were much more diverse and widespread during the Miocene, with two genera, Gaillardia and Magnatalpa, being present in North America.[4][5] Both living species are thought to have derived from the fossil genus Archaeodesmana.[6]

## Species

[edit]

Further information: List of talpids

* Genus Desmana
* Russian desman (D. moschata)
* †Desmana kowalskae[5]
* †Desmana nehringi[5]
* †Desmana inflata[5]
* †Desmana thermalis[5]
* †Desmana marci[5]
* Genus Galemys
* Pyrenean desman (G. pyrenaicus)
* Genus †Asthenoscapter Miocene, Europe[7]
* Genus †Archaeodesmana Miocene-Pliocene, Europe
* Genus †Desmanella Miocene, Europe[8][9]
* Genus †Gaillardia Miocene, North America
* Genus †Mygalinia Late Miocene, Hungary
* Genus †Magnatalpa Miocene-Pliocene, North America[5]
* Genus †Ruemkelia[10]

## Gallery

[edit]

* The bare snout of Galemys pyrenaicus

* Galemys pyrenaicus

* Desmana moschata

## In the media

[edit]

* Morelle, Rebecca (2012-09-04). "Pyrenean desman: On the trail of Europe's weirdest beast". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2012-09-05. "video report"
* "Russians rally for water mammal". BBC News Online. 2006-06-09. Retrieved 2012-09-05.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hutterer, R. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 303\. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
2. ^ Quaglietta, L. (2022) [amended version of 2021 assessment]. "Galemys pyrenaicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T8826A214429993. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T8826A214429993.en.
3. ^ Rutovskaya, M.; Gazzard, A.; Turvey, S.T. (2023). "Desmana moschata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2023: e.T6506A231334630. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T6506A231334630.en.
4. ^ Martin, James E. (2017). "A rare occurrence of the fossil water mole Gaillardia (Desmanini, Talpidae) from the Neogene in North America" (PDF). Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science. 96: 95–98.
5. ^ a b c d e f g Oberg, Danielle; Samuels, Joshua (2022). "Fossil moles from the Gray Fossil Site (Tennessee): Implications for diversification and evolution of North American Talpidae". Palaeontologia Electronica. doi:10.26879/1150. S2CID 91857382.
6. ^ Minwer-Barakat, Raef; García-Alix, Antonio; Martín-Suárez, Elvira; Freudenthal, Matthijs (2020-12-01). "Early Pliocene Desmaninae (Mammalia, Talpidae) from Southern Spain and the Origin of the Genus Desmana". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (5): e1835936. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E5936M. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1835936. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 228905970.
7. ^ Hutchison, John Howard (1974). "Notes on type specimens of European Miocene Talpidae and a tentative classification of old world Tertiary Talpidae (Insectivora: Mammalia)". Geobios. 7 (3): 211–256. Bibcode:1974Geobi...7..211H. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(74)80009-4.
8. ^ Meier, Patricia; Bickelmann, Constanze; Scheyer, Torsten; Koyabu, Daisuke; Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo (2013). "Evolution of bone compactness in extant and extinct moles (Talpidae): exploring humeral microstructure in small fossorial mammals". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 13: 55. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-55. PMC 3599842. PMID 23442022.
9. ^ "Palaeobiology Database: Desmanella stehlini".
10. ^ Rzebik-Kowalska, Barbara; Pawłowski, Jerzy. "Ruemkelia (Mammalia, Insectivora, Talpidae) nom. nov. for Dibolia RÜMKE, 1985 (nec LATREILLE, 1829)". Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia.

Taxon identifiers

Desmanini|

* Wikidata: Q940295
* Wikispecies: Desmanini
* ADW: Desmanini
* CoL: KS6
* ITIS: 709676
* MSW: 13700676
* Paleobiology Database: 64189
* uBio: 7016604