Some small animals live in the water. They have paws that look like flippers. These animals eat bugs. They live in parts of Europe. They are hard to find now. We must help them. Do you like water animals?
Some small animals live in the water. They belong to the mole family. These animals eat bugs. They have webbed paws. These paws help them swim. Their front paws are not for digging. Two kinds live in Europe now. One lives in Russia. The other lives in the Pyrenees. Both kinds are in danger. They are hard to find. It is a sad thing for these animals.
Desmans are small animals that live in water. They belong to the mole family. These animals are insectivores. This means they eat insects. They have webbed paws. These paws help them swim. Their front paws are not good for digging.
Only two kinds of desmans live in Europe today. The Russian desman lives in European Russia. The Pyrenean desman lives in the Pyrenees. This is a mountain area. It is also in the Iberian Peninsula. Both kinds are endangered. This means they are at risk. The Russian desman is in very big trouble.
Desmans used to be more common. Long ago, they lived in many places. They lived in North America too. Two kinds lived there during the Miocene. The Miocene was a time long ago. Scientists think today's desmans came from an old kind called Archaeodesmana. This was a fossil genus. A genus is a group of animals. Many other kinds of desmans lived in the past. Some lived in Hungary. Others lived in Europe. They are gone now.
Desmans are special animals that live in the water. They belong to the mole family, which is called Talpidae. These small creatures are insectivores. This means their diet is made of insects. They are very good at living in wet places.
Desmans are quite different from the moles you might see in a garden. Most moles spend their time digging in the dirt. Desmans have webbed paws instead. These paws help them move through the water. Their front paws are not well-adapted for digging in the ground.
How a desman moves depends on its body. The webbing between its toes works like flippers. This helps the animal swim through streams. Because they are built for water, they do not dig well. They use their bodies to find food in wet areas. This way of life makes them unique among moles.
We can learn about desmans by looking at fossils. Long ago, during the Miocene, these animals were much more diverse. They lived in many different parts of the world. Two groups called Gaillardia and Magnatalpa lived in North America. Scientists think today's living species came from a fossil group. This group is named Archaeodesmana.
Today, only two species of desman are still alive. The Russian desman lives in European Russia. The Pyrenean desman lives in the Pyrenees mountains. It also lives in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Both of these animals are endangered. This means they are at risk of disappearing. The Russian desman is in even more trouble. It is called critically endangered.
Many other kinds of desmans lived in the past. Some lived in Europe, like the genus Desmanella. Other types lived in Hungary, such as Mygalinia. These animals lived during the Late Miocene. There were also groups like Asthenoscapter and Ruemkelia. Even though many are gone, they show us how desmans changed. We can see how they moved from the past to today.
Desmans are unique aquatic insectivores belonging to the tribe Desmanini. This group is part of the larger mole family known as Talpidae. As insectivores, these animals primarily eat insects to survive. While many moles live in soil, desmans have adapted to life in the water. This specialized lifestyle makes them a distinct part of the natural world. They represent a specific branch of the evolutionary tree within the mole family.
To survive in wet environments, desmans have developed specific physical traits. They possess webbed paws that function effectively for movement in water. This webbing acts as a tool for swimming through aquatic habitats. Because of this adaptation, their front paws are not well-adapted for digging in the earth. Instead of tunneling through soil like garden moles, they use their bodies to navigate streams. This physical shift defines how they interact with their surroundings.
There are currently only two living species of desman in the world. The first is the Russian desman, known scientifically as Desmana moschata. This species is found in European Russia. The second is the Pyrenean desman, or Galemys pyrenaicus. This animal lives in the Pyrenees mountains and the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Both of these living species are considered endangered. The Russian desman faces even higher risks and is classified as critically endangered.
Scientists believe these two modern species share a common ancestor. They likely derived from a fossil genus named Archaeodesmana. This extinct group lived during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs in Europe. By studying these fossils, researchers can trace how desmans changed over millions of years. The transition from Archaeodesmana to modern species shows how the tribe specialized for water. This history helps us understand the current distribution of the surviving species.
During the Miocene epoch, desmans were much more diverse and widespread. They were not limited to the small areas they occupy today. In North America, two different genera were present: Gaillardia and Magnatalpa. These groups show that the tribe once had a much larger global footprint. The fossil record includes many other extinct genera. For example, Desmanella lived in Europe, and Mygalinia existed in Hungary during the Late Miocene. Other fossil groups include Asthenoscapter and Ruemkelia.
The genus Desmana includes several extinct species that help scientists map their history. These include Desmana kowalskae, Desmana nehringi, and Desmana inflata. Other fossil species in this genus are Desmana thermalis and Desmana marci. Each of these names represents a different part of the desman's long evolutionary journey. Examining these specific names allows biologists to see the complexity of the tribe. It reveals a much richer biological history than the two living species suggest.
Understanding desmans provides insight into the broader evolution of the Talpidae family. It shows how a single family can branch into very different ways of living. Some members stay in the dirt, while others move into the water. This specialization is a key part of how mammals adapt to new niches. The study of desmans connects the history of ancient fossils to the conservation needs of today. Protecting the remaining species is vital for maintaining this unique lineage of the mole family.
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