Mogera insularis
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The insular mole (Mogera insularis) is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is restricted to Hainan Island and Taiwan, where it is also known as the Formosan blind mole. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863.
La Touche's mole (M. latouchei) of mainland China and northern Vietnam was formerly considered conspecific with M. insularis until a 2007 taxonomic analysis found it to be a distinct species. In addition, the same study found that populations of M. insularis in the mountainous center and western lowlands of Taiwan represented a new, distinct species, Kano's mole (M. kanoana). The same study also treated the Hainan population as a distinct species (M. hainana) for the sake of comparing geographic variation, but did not do genetic analysis on it and thus later authorities have not followed through with hainana as a distinct species. However, a 2021 genetic analysis found hainana to likely represent a distinct species, leaving insularis as endemic to only Taiwan.
Phylogenetic evidence supports it being the sister species to a clade comprising kanoana and hainana (if the latter is considered a distinct species). Mogera... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taipei | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Insular Mole sighting in Taipei on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 7th most-seen of the 10 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and August–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Insular Mole in Taipei on a given day, against under 5% in April–July and November–February, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Insular Mole sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Taipei, in our data
Taipei is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Insular Mole sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Insular Mole is recorded against all the mammals logged in Taipei (13 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
