Page 71 - World of Animals - Issue #28 Magazine

Bizarre!

The strange creature that STAR-NOSED MOLE
Condylura cristata
Class Mammalia
looks like a cross between

a shrew and an octopus Territory Southeastern Canada
and northeastern United States
Diet Terrestrial and aquatic
invertebrates
The star-nosed mole has tentacles on its face, lives life Lifespan 3-4 years
Adult weight 35-75g (1-3oz)
underground, and has an unusual talent for speed eating Conservation status

LEAST CONCERN

It’s virtually blind A star-shaped nose A long, thick tail

As they spend so much time underground, A rosette of 22 fleshy tentacles surround the The star-nosed mole’s fleshy tail changes

the moles have no need for acute vision and snout and form the ‘star’ that give the mole with the seasons, swelling in the winter to
so they have small and beady eyes with weak its name. The strange appendages have serve as a fat storage organ. It’s covered
eyesight. Their small size also means they nothing to do with smell and actually assist in short, coarse hairs and concentric rings
are less likely to sustain an injury or suffer with touch. Comprising more than 25,000 and is nearly as long as the head and body

irritation from soil entering the eyes, which receptors, they can pick up electrical impulses length combined. As these moles are prolific
is especially important in their cramped given off by prey and allow the mole to sense swimmers, the large tail is also used as a
underground habitat. its surroundings. rudder when they are underwater.
They have large,
scaled feet

Disproportionately large feet come
in handy when you mostly live
underground. The moles use
their pink, scaled feet much like
shovels, giving them the ability
to excavate two to three
metres (seven to ten feet) of
soil per hour! These large
feet are also the perfect
shape to act as paddles
while swimming.

The fastest eating Well-adapted, It can smell

mammal on Earth sharp teeth underwater

How long does it take you to eat lunch? These moles have 44 teeth in total, including The star-nosed mole has developed a clever
This creature has landed itself a place in the tweezer-like front teeth they use to pluck small way of sniffing out prey underwater without

Guinness World Records book for speed insects from the ground with ease. These drowning. Quickly re-inhaling the air bubbles

eating, taking only 230 milliseconds to find are so important that 30 per cent of the that leave their nostrils after exhaling, they are
and consume prey, on average. That’s less moles’ brain cortex is dedicated to handling able to continuously blow bubbles and sniff at © Nature PL
than a quarter of a second! information from their front dentures. a rate of five to ten times per second.

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