The De Winton’s golden mole was last seen in 1937 on the north-western coast of South Africa, and later declared officially lost. For the next 86 years, it eluded scientists, probably because of difficulties in locating and trapping it and because a similar looking mole, Grant’s golden mole (Eremitalpa granti), was still present in the area. But we did capture one golden mole at Port Nolloth, and confirmed that this was a De Winton’s golden mole after taking swabs and sequencing the DNA. We’ve since found a second De Winton’s golden mole in the same area. The rediscovery of De Winton’s golden mole offers us the chance to learn more about this fascinating and poorly understood small mammal.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 05, 2023 22:11 UTC