Desmanini[1] Temporal range:
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Russian desman (Desmana moschata) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Eulipotyphla |
Family: | Talpidae |
Subfamily: | Talpinae |
Tribe: | Desmanini Thomas, 1912 |
Desmans are diving insectivores of the tribe Desmanini (also considered a subfamily, Desmaninae) in the mole family, Talpidae.
This tribe consists of two extant monotypic genera of semiaquatic insectivores found in Europe: one in Russia and the other in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and Pyrenees. Both species are endangered, the Russian desman critically so.[2][3] They have webbed paws and their front paws are not well-adapted for digging. Desmans were much more diverse and widespread during the Miocene, with two genera, Gaillardia and Magnatalpa, being present in North America.[4][5] Both living species are thought to have derived from the fossil genus Archaeodesmana.[6]
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