Discovery of new mole species for science

10/11/2025

Scientists from Institute of Biology – Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) have discovered a new mole species (Talpidae) in the Pu Luong Nature Reserve (Thanh Hoa Province), a limestone mountainous area in the North Central region of Viet Nam. The research results are part of the independent project “Study on the diversity of small mammals in high mountain, cave, and limestone ecosystems in North–Central Viet Nam” (2024–2026, code DL0000.04/24–26), which focuses on taxonomy, evolution, and conservation of small mammals in Viet Nam. The project is led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Truong Son, from the Zoology Department of the Institute of Biology. The findings were published in ZooKeys, a prestigious international journal on biodiversity and taxonomy (Q1, IF 1.3; CiteScore 2.5) by Pensoft Publishers.

The new species belongs to the genus Euroscaptor (Talpidae) in Vietnam

Moles (Talpidae) are a group of burrowing mammals valuable for evolutionary and taxonomic studies. However, knowledge about them in Viet Nam remains limited due to their subterranean habits and morphological similarities among species. The newly described species, named Euroscaptor darwini sp. nov., was discovered in the Pu Luong Nature Reserve (Thanh Hoa Province), located in the limestone mountains of North Central Viet Nam. Morphological characteristics show that this species has a very short tail (six vertebrae), a small skull, a narrow snout, and weak zygomatic arches, clearly distinguishing it from E. subanura, which inhabits lowland areas. Analysis of two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and 12S rRNA) confirmed that E. darwini represents an independent evolutionary lineage, reflecting long-term isolation of the population in high mountain areas. The species was recorded at an elevation of about 1,100 m, in moist evergreen forest—a typical habitat for many endemic species of northern Viet Nam. Its breeding season occurs in April, similar to other East Asian mole species. The findings contribute to clarifying the process of species differentiation caused by geographical isolation, and add a new species to the mammalian checklist of Viet Nam, highlighting the importance of mountain ranges such as Pu Luong in biodiversity conservation.

See the full article here.

Translated by Tuyet Nhung
Link to Vietnamese version