NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Gansu Mole
Scapanulus oweni Thomas, 1912
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 Gansu mole (Scapanulus oweni) is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae endemic to central China, where it occurs in Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai. It is the only species in the genus Scapanulus. Along with the Medog mole (Alpiscaptulus medogensis), which is also found in the mountains of China, the Gansu mole is the only member of the tribe Scalopini to not live in North America. Phylogenetic and fossil evidence indicates that the scalopine moles evolved in Eurasia and migrated to North America during the Neogene; however, the Gansu and Medog moles are not relict Eurasian scalopine moles, but are descendants of North American scalopine moles that migrated back to Eurasia; the hairy-tailed mole (Parascalops breweri) of North America is more closely related to them than it is to the other two North American scalopine genera. Phylogenetic evidence supports the Gansu and Medog moles being the closest living relatives of one another and diverging the mid-late Miocene, about 11.59 million years ago.
Wikipedia contributors, Gansu mole; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:49:42.457978+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Scapanulus oweni Thomas, 1912
- Name authority
- Thomas, 1912
- Common name
- Gansu Mole
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Talpidae
- Genus
- Scapanulus
- 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
- tribeScalopini Gill, 1875
- genusScapanulus Thomas, 1912
- speciesScapanulus oweni Thomas, 1912
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
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=633846 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:6Y3YL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.