NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Inquisitive Shrew Mole
Uropsilus investigator (Thomas, 1922)
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 inquisitive shrew mole (Uropsilus investigator) is a species of mammal in the family Talpidae. It is only known from Yunnan province of China, although its range is thought to extend over the border into Myanmar.
A 2018 phylogenetic study found U. investigator to be the sister lineage to all other species in the genus Uropsilus, having diverged from the rest of the genus during the late Miocene.
Wikipedia contributors, Inquisitive shrew mole; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:44:20.156903+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Uropsilus investigator (Thomas, 1922)
- Name authority
- (Thomas, 1922)
- Common name
- Inquisitive Shrew Mole
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Talpidae
- Genus
- Uropsilus
- 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
- subfamilyUropsilinae Dobson, 1883
- genusUropsilus A. Milne-Edwards, 1871
- speciesUropsilus investigator (Thomas, 1922)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Uropsilus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Snow Mountain Shrew MoleUropsilus nivatus G. M. Allen, 1923 | TalpidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Nasillus investigator Thomas, 1922 Thomas, 1922 | 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=633862 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:7DXDL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.