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First record for a partial Isabelline colouration in a European mole, Talpa europaea, from Central Italy
Abstract
The European mole Talpa europaea Linnaeus, 1758 is a quite common species in Central Italy. I report the first Isabelline individual of this species recorded in the scientific literature. Actually, this species is quite widespread throughout Europe, but coat-colouration anomalies have never been described in Central Italian mole populations. Further research is therefore needed to determine the percentage of occurrence of anomalous individuals and the evolutionary history of coat anomalies in moles.
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Faunal surveys of Mishima Island and two islets of Rokuto Islands
(Oshima Island and Aishima Island) were undertaken during May 29-June 1, November 27 - December 1, 1980.
1) Mishima Island lies in the Japan Sea about 46.3km off the northern coast of
south-western Honshu and has an area of 7.86 km2. There were obtained Urotrichus
talpoides, Crocidura dsinezumi and Mus molossinus (Table 1). Urotrichus talpoides
of Mishima Island had larger body sizes than that of Honshu (Table 2), and there were
found partial albinisms of several grades to occur quite commonly in Urotrichus talpoi-
des specimens captured (Fig. 4). Except for these three species, it was surposed that the
wild land mammal inhabiting on Mishima Island was Mustela sibirica only.
2) Oshima Island lies in the Japan Sea about 7.5 km off the northern coast of south-
western Honshu and has an area of 3.1 km2. There was obtained only one species,
Apodemus speciosus. Tunnels of Mogera sp. were found commonly in the cultivated
fields. It is said that Mustela sibirica is not found on this island.
3) Aishima Island lies in the Japan Sea about 14 km off the northern coast of south-
western Honshu and has an area of 2.6 km2. There were obtained Mus molossinus and
Crocidura dsinezumi. Except for these two species, it was surposed that the wild land
mammal inhabiting on Aishima Island was Mustela sibirica only.
The paper presents cases of atypical colouration in small mammals from Poland described in literature and gathered through interviews with Polish theriologists. We took into account only cases of pigmentation disorders covering the whole body to be sure that they resulted from genetic trait and are not the effect of injury or frostbite. In total, 34 cases of individuals with anomalies of colouration of the whole body were found (8 insectivores and 26 rodents). They belonged to 10 species. A majority of such cases among rodents were recorded in habitats with various degree of isolation by suboptimal or unfavourable habitats. It confirmed the hypothesis of the influence of environmental conditions on the frequency of revealing the recessive alleles in populations of ground-dwelling small mammals. In the mole, however, occurrence of albinotic individuals is the result of low predator pressure, due to subterranean way of life of this species. It is suggested that changes in the genetic structure of small mammals populations, leading to revealing of recessive genetic traits like pigmentation anomalies, can serve as an indicator of environmental changes.
The Atlas illustrates the distribution in Umbria of 26 species of Erinaceomorpha (1), Soricomorpha (11) and small Rodents (14), a group without taxonomic validity but with strong ecological, ethological and operative resemblance.
Their presence is documented by 1726 records, all regularly georeferenced, referred to the period between the end of the 19th century and the year 2012 and mainly collected without a standardized method. The collected records have been divided in historical records (up to 1994), recent records (1995-2001 included) and contemporary records (2002-2012 included) .
The 202 historical records have been useful to trace the research phases on small Mammals in the region and to re-construct the previous areal of species that are nowadays very localised (Arvicola amphibius). Due to the necessity of updating them, these records have been excluded from any distributional and ecological assessments with the exception of maps (if not differently indicated) and of mortality cause assessment.
With the exclusion of the alien species Sciurus carolinensis the ascertained species are representative of 62,50% of Italian small Mammals. Records have been collected in 321 of 384 sampling squares (km 5 per km 5 according to the Gauss-Boaga grid) covering 83,90% of the regional territory. 4 of them (1,25%) include only historical records.
The regional chorology of the species is calculated by index of diffusion deriving from the ratio ID=number of cells where the species occurs/total of examined cells, whereas ID=0, the species doesn’t occur in any cell, ID=1, the species occurs in all cells. Talpa caeca, Sorex antinori, Neomys anomalus and S. carolinensis are new species for the region taking into account the data achieved by previous surveys (Ragni, 2002). Sciurus vulgaris, Erinaceus europaeus, Microtus gr. savii, Rattus rattus and Apodemus sylvaticus have reached the highest percentage cover values (from 46 to 26%).
N. anomalus, S. carolinensis, A. amphibius, Micromys minutus, T.caeca and S.antinori, result extremely localised and are present in a percentage equal or inferior of 2%. Umbria hosts the 3 Italian species of genus Talpa and 2 (7,69%) national endemisms, Talpa romana and S. samniticus, one species (3,85%), M. avellanarius, that is specially protected by the the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC, one alien and problematic species, S. carolinensis, 4 species (15,38%) risking extinction, Neomys fodiens, S. vulgaris, A. amphibius and M. minutus.
Considering the taxa of Italian small Mammals presently known, their distributional areals and the diagnostic doubts for some of them, it is possible to consider that the species recorded here are between 79 and 100% of the ones really present in Umbria. The distributional deficiency gap due to the lack of sampling and to the different degrees of detectability of species, even those ones with similar life habits, have certainly favoured some areas instead of others.
For every species it has been moreover indicated:
- the general biological notes;
- categories of the nature of the records;
- biometry of Umbrian samples;
- possible useful diagnostic features;
- association with environmental elements (when possible, this assessment has been performed with reference to the bioclimatic categories, to the land use categories and using the information on the habitat where data had been found);
- categories of regional threats according to the guidelines and criteria indicated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
Future researches could add new useful information for the understanding of these small animals, most of them suffering the anthropic pressure due to the great modifications in the territory.
These considerations suggest a constant monitoring and measures to contrast the degradations of habitats damaging the most vulnerable species.
During field surveys for small mammals in Bulgaria we found specimens of Crocidura leucodon,
Talpa europaea and a Mus sp with color variation. We reviewed the national scientific collections and the
available literature for cases of small mammals with color variations. Color variation in small mammals is
very rare, so far we found nine cases only, five cases of T. europaea and one case each of C. leucodon, C.
suveolens, Sorex araneus and Mus sp. The albino C. leucodon is one out of 143 white-toothed shrews (Crocudra sp.) or 0.69%. The form of the partialy leucistic Mus sp. is one out of 633 mice (0.15%), caught between 2001
and 2007.
Over 12,500 record data were used to compile new, considerably updated maps showing the distribution of 10 insectivore species over the territory of the Czech Republic. The known distribution scheme has been confirmed in most of the species, either their areal occurrence all over the territory (Sorex araneus, S. minutus, Neomys fodiens, Crocidura suaveolens, Talpa europaea), or their more or less regional distribution (Sorex alpinus, Neomys anomalus). Data obtained on two species tend to suggest continuing expansion of their sub-ranges in central Europe in the northward (Crocidura leucodon) or eastward (Erinaceus europaeus) direction. On the other hand, the present records of Erinaceus roumanicus do not reach the western limit of occurrence as established in the 1980s. Also, the data on the occurrence of insectivores were subject to hypsometric analysis. While some species showing rather overall distribution roughly copy the altitudinal relief of this country (Sorex araneus, S. minutus, Neomys fodiens, Talpa europaea), others tend to concentrate in medium altitudes of hilly country to highlands (200–600 m above sea-level; Neomys anomalus, Crocidura leucodon, Erinaceus europaeus), and yet others mainly occur in lowlands to hilly country (141–400 m a. s. l.; Crocidura suaveolens, Erinaceus roumanicus). Sorex alpinus is the only species showing a distinct shift to submontane and mountain altitudes.
Anomalous colourations occur in many tropical vertebrates. However, they are considered rare in wild populations, with very few records for the majority of animal taxa. We report two new cases of anomalous colouration in mammals. Additionally, we compiled all published cases about anomalous pigmentation registered in Neotropical mammals, throughout a comprehensive review of peer reviewed articles between 1950 and 2010. Every record was classified as albinism, leucism, piebaldism or eventually as undetermined pigmentation. As results, we report the new record of a leucistic specimen of opossum (Didelphis sp.) in southern Brazil, as well as a specimen of South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) with piebaldism in Uruguay. We also found 31 scientific articles resulting in 23 records of albinism, 12 of leucism, 71 of piebaldism and 92 records classified as undetermined pigmentation. Anomalous colouration is apparently rare in small terrestrial mammals, but it is much more common in cetaceans and michrochiropterans. Out of these 198 records, 149 occurred in cetaceans and 30 in bats. The results related to cetaceans suggest that males and females with anomolous pigmentation are reproductively successful and as a consequence their frequencies are becoming higher in natural populations. In bats, this result can be related to the fact these animals orient themselves primarily through echolocation, and their refuges provide protection against light and predation. It is possible that anomalous colouration occurs more frequently in other Neotropical mammal orders, which were not formally reported. Therefore, we encourage researchers to publish these events in order to better understand this phenomenon that has a significant influence on animal survival.
We quantified relative extent of pelage staining in Scalopus aquaticus (eastern mole) as an indicator of scent-gland marking, and evaluated whether staining was associated with colored pelage spots and patches often prevalent on the snout and ventral surface of individuals. Moles were collected from southern Illinois (n = 91) and from Cincinnati, OH (n = 152). Adult moles scent-marked more than juveniles, but pelage staining was independent of breeding season for males and females. Pelage spotting occurred in 33.7% of the sample and was not associated with pelage staining from glandular secretions, as has been suggested by some previous investigators. Pelage spots were most prevalent on the ventral surface. Ventral spotting occurred more often in males than females (P < 0.001). Mean area of ventral spots was 2.81 cm2 with no differences in area related to sex or age.
Reports of albinism are available for several groups of mammals, including the secondmost diverse family of Rodentia, Cricetidae. Nonetheless, in South America, where cricetid rodents are the most representative of the small mammals, both in richness and abundance, few records of albinism exist. Here, we document the first case of albinism for the cricetid Oxymicterus dasytrichus , and compare the skin, hair and skull morphology of the albino with specimens of the regular coat color pattern of O. dasytrichus collected in the state of Minas Gerais, where the albino specimen was collected. Despite the marked external morphological differences observed in the hair and skin colors, cranial measurements indicate that no salient differences can be observed when comparing particular measures for the skulls of albino and non-albino specimens, neither through a multivariate statistical analysis. We also briefly discuss the relative rarity of complete albinism in Neotropical rodents.
We describe partial albinism (a white-belted coloration) in the Japanese shrew mole (Urotrichus talpoides) from Aichi Prefecture, Japan. This shrew-mole did not present symptoms of generalized types of vitiligo vulgaris. The white-belted coloration may have occurred because of a lack of melanocyte formation due to a deficit of or to abnormalities in neural crest cells during ontogeny.
A novel pelage color is described in juvenile Arctic ground squirrels, Spermophilus parryii. Growth, development and survival of captive individuals with a novel pelage color is compared to that of individuals having a typical pelage. There was no indication that pleiotropic effects resulted in decreased vigor of the mutant juveniles, but the limited information on survival suggests that coat color may reduce the probability of survival by increased risk of predation.
Deals with the species of Talpidae (moles, shrew-moles and desmans) and Chrysochloridae (golden moles) families of Eurasia and North America, and the southern half of Africa, respectively. Particular attention is given to European mole Talpa europaea, star-nosed mole Condylura cristata of North America and the aquatic Pyrenean desman Galemys pyrenaicus. The introduction shows the range of species and their taxonomy and distribution. Subsequent chapters describe, with illustrations and figures, the structural and physiological adaptations for digging, including analyses of the energetic costs of digging and the construction of the tunnel system; feeding; life, death and reproduction; patterns of daily and annual activity; social organization, territories and communication; man/mole problems and mole control; and lastly, for desmans, swimming as a way of life. Appendices provide information on keeping moles in captivity and on mole ectoparasites. -J.W.Cooper
Forty lesser Japanese moles (Mogera imaizumii) were trapped on Kinkazan Island, which is a small island (959 ha) located 1 km off Honshu in northern Japan. Of these, 36 moles (90%) showed some degree of partial albinism of the fur, ranging from only small tufts of cream-colored hairs on their basal forefoot to multiple large interconnected patches spread around the whole body. Most tufts, spots and patches were cream-colored, but some tufts and spots on the lower abdomen were light brown. This coloration is attributable to staining by a secretion from skin glands that are distributed ventrally, with a higher density in the lower abdomen. The high frequency of partial albinism may be attributable to a lack of predators in this insular ecosystem or to low genetic diversity in the population, although it is difficult to know which of these two is more important.
Albinism is a rare genetic condition globally characterized by a number of specific deficits in the visual system, resulting in poor vision, in association with a variable hypopigmentation phenotype. This lack or reduction of pigment might affect the eyes, skin and hair (oculocutaneous albinism, OCA), or only the eyes (ocular albinism, OA). In addition, there are several syndromic forms of albinism (e.g., Hermansky-Pudlak and Chediak-Higashi syndromes, HPS and CHS, respectively) in which the described hypopigmented and visual phenotypes coexist with more severe pathological alterations. Recently, a locus has been mapped to the 4q24 human chromosomal region and thus represents an additional genetic cause of OCA, termed OCA5, while the gene is eventually identified. In addition, two new genes have been identified as causing OCA when mutated: SLC24A5 and C10orf11, and hence designated as OCA6 and OCA7, respectively. This consensus review, involving all laboratories that have reported these new genes, aims to update and agree upon the current gene nomenclature and types of albinism, while providing additional insights from the function of these new genes in pigment cells. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
There are six species of moles, Euroscaptor mizura, Mogera uchidai, M. tokudae, M. echigo, M. imaizumii and M. wogura, in Talpidae in Japan, and the diverse talpid fauna has been interested in for a long time. Aspects on the taxonomy, morphology, ecology and conservation of them were reviewed briefly.
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The albino and the partial albino of some animals. Misc. Rep. Hiwa Mus
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White Mogera wogura imaizumii was captured
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