NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
White-tailed Mole
Parascaptor leucura (Blyth, 1850)
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 white-tailed mole (Parascaptor leucura) is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is found in Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar. This species are endemic to East Asia and exhibit limited distributions. It is the only species in the genus Parascaptor.
It has a looser articulation between the malleus and the ectotympanic bone and a reduced or absent orbicular apophysis. Parascaptor has a hypertrophied malleus, a feature shared with Scaptochirus but not found in any other talpid genera. It lacks a tensor tympani muscle, possess complete bullae, and has extensions of the middle ear cavity that pneumatize the surrounding basicranial bones.
Wikipedia contributors, White-tailed mole; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:07:30.060017+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Parascaptor leucura (Blyth, 1850)
- Name authority
- (Blyth, 1850)
- Common name
- White-tailed Mole
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Talpidae
- Genus
- Parascaptor
- 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
- orderEulipotyphla Waddell, Okada & Hasegawa, 1999
- familyTalpidae G. Fischer, 1814
- subfamilyTalpinae G. Fischer, 1814
- tribeTalpini G. Fischer, 1814
- genusParascaptor Gill, 1875
- speciesParascaptor leucura (Blyth, 1850)
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 |
|---|---|
| Talpa leucura Blyth, 1850 Blyth, 1850 | 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=633845 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:4DBB7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.