NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Silky Mole-rat
Heliophobius argenteocinereus Peters, 1846
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The silvery mole-rat, silvery blesmol, or silky mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) is a species of mole-rat of East Africa which occurs in southern Kenya, Tanzania, southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Malawi. Solitary and aggressive, little is known about its ecology or behavior. It is monotypic in the genus Heliophobius. A common species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".
Wikipedia contributors, Silvery mole-rat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:46:42.271977+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Heliophobius argenteocinereus Peters, 1846
- Name authority
- Peters, 1846
- Common name
- Silky Mole-rat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Bathyergidae
- Genus
- Heliophobius
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderHystricomorpha Brandt, 1855
- infraorderHystricognathi Brandt, 1855
- familyBathyergidae Waterhouse, 1841
- genusHeliophobius Peters, 1846
- speciesHeliophobius argenteocinereus Peters, 1846
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Heliophobius argenteocinereus angonicus Thomas, 1917 Thomas, 1917 | synonym |
| Heliophobius argenteocinereus argenteocinereus Peters, 1846 Peters, 1846 | synonym |
| Heliophobius argenteocinereus emini Noack, 1894 Noack, 1894 | synonym |
| Heliophobius argenteocinereus mottoulei (Schouteden, 1913) (Schouteden, 1913) | synonym |
| Heliophobius argenteocinereus robustus Thomas, 1906 Thomas, 1906 | synonym |
| Heliophobius argenteocinereus spalax Thomas, 1910 Thomas, 1910 | synonym |
| Heliophobius argenteocinereus albifrons (Gray, 1864) (Gray, 1864) | synonym |
| Heliophobius argenteocinereus marungensis Noack, 1887 Noack, 1887 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=584676 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3KBXZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.