Talpa occidentalis
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The Iberian mole (Talpa occidentalis) is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. The moles live in a variety of moist soil habitats in the Iberian peninsula, including in cultivated areas. The females are hermaphroditic and slightly smaller than the males. Talpa occidentalis is considered of least concern by the IUCN.
First described as a subspecies of Talpa caeca by Angel Cabrera in 1907, Miller shortly after identified it as a separate species based on the skull, and it was formally identified as Talpa occidentalis by Barrett-Hamilton in 1911. It was later again considered a subspecies by Niethammer in 1962, until reanalysis by Jiminzez et all in 1984 and Filipucci et al in 1987.
Adult males are slightly larger than females, at an average of 65 grams (2.3 oz) and 53.5 grams (1.89 oz) respectively. It is found in Spain and Portugal, primarily in the northwest. It is most commonly found in meadows, cropland or pastures, and woodlands, as well as any temperate area with deep, moist soil that is not too rock, sandy, or otherwise poorly suited for digging. It eats primarily earthworms, and its habitat tends to be areas high in earthworms. It prefers... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porto | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
No species of the same family or order lives in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Iberian mole sighting in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 7th most-seen of the 10 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–May and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Iberian mole in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September–December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Iberian mole sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, in our data
Sierra de Guadarrama National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Iberian mole sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Iberian mole is recorded against all the mammals logged in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
