Gunning's Golden Mole, Neamblysomus gunningi, is a small mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

 endemic to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. It was listed in 2006 as an endangered species. Its decreasing numbers are due to habitat clearance or destruction and predation

Predation

In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...

 from domesticated cats and dogs. It is a burrowing animal and spends the majority of its time underground.

Characteristics

The upper parts are a dark golden-brown tinged with a slight iridescence and the underparts are a lighter brown with a golden sheen. It has a compact, streamlined body and a wedge-shaped head and pointed muzzle. It has muscular shoulders, short powerful forelimbs and strong digging claws. The third claw is enlarged and there is no fifth digit and only a vestigial first and fourth digit. The hind feet retain all five toes and are webbed to allow efficient backward shoveling of the soil loosened with the front claws. The ears are buried in the dense fur and the vestigial eyes are covered by hairy skin. The length is between 11 and 13 centimeters. Males weigh 56 – 70 grams and females 39 – 56 grams.

Biology

Golden moles have a high metabolic rate and are not able to enter into a state of torpor in response to cold temperatures. This enables them to survive in areas where temperatures can be low and food scarce. When burrowing and foraging near the surface they create raised ridges of soil that are visible above ground. There is also a system of deeper tunnels which are used for resting and for the rearing of young. The diet is mostly earthworms, insect larvae and other small invertebrates.

Range and habitat

The golden mole is known only from the far northern Drakensberg, at Woodbush Forest and New Agatha Forest Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa where it inhabits montane forest

Cloud forest

A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...

 and grasslands, cultivated farmland and young pine plantations. It prefers moist soil near watercourses and ponds. Because of this limited range it is vulnerable to any detrimental human activities within the area and its status is given as an endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 in the IUCN Red List

IUCN Red List

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

.