# Scapanus latimanus

> The broad-footed mole spends almost its whole life underground in the western United States and Baja California, so most people know it only by its signs. This species account gathers what was known about how it is built for digging, what it eats, and the raised mole-runs and volcano-shaped mounds it leaves behind, which differ from the crescent-shaped mounds of pocket gophers.

Summary by Kersey Lawrence, Original Wisdom. Updated 9 November 2026. Page: https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2001-verts-carraway-scapanus-latimanus/

## Citation and access

- **Authors:** B. J. Verts and Leslie N. Carraway
- **Year published:** 2001
- **Journal or source:** Mammalian Species
- **Full citation:** Verts, B. J. and Carraway, L. N. 2001. Scapanus latimanus. Mammalian Species 666: 1-7.
- **DOI:** 10.2307/0.666.1
- **Access status:** Hosted (freely available elsewhere)
- **PDF:** https://www.originalwisdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/2001_Verts_and_Carraway_scapanus-latimanus.pdf

## Tags

- **Species:** Mammals > Broad-footed mole
- **Region:** North America > Mexico; North America > United States
- **Behaviour and ecology:** Behaviour; Dispersal; Feeding; Movement; Predation
- **Methods and technology:** Literature review
- **Data type:** Review
- **Observer qualification:** Not needed
- **Discipline:** Behaviour and ecology
- **Year published:** 2001

## Detailed keywords

- **Species:** Studied: broad-footed mole (Scapanus latimanus), with its 12 recognized subspecies (anthonyi, campi, caurinus, dilatus, grinnelli, insularis, latimanus, minusculus, monoensis, occultus, parvus, sericatus). Food: molluscs (Gastropoda) and beetles (Coleoptera) in the one stomach analysed; earthworms (Oligochaeta) and insects; beach hoppers (Orchestoidea californiana) probably eaten in the intertidal zone. Predators: pine marten (Martes americana), barn owl (Tyto alba), marsh hawk (Circus cyaneus) and red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Other species mentioned: pocket gophers (Geomyidae), which may share tunnel systems and make differently shaped mounds; California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi), used for comparison in a muscle study; the mole Scapanus orarius (genetic comparison); fossil relatives S. malatinus and Scapanoscapter simplicidens. Parasites: fleas Corpsylla jordani and C. ornata, the tick Ixodes angustus, and mites Androlaelaps fahrenholzi, Haemogamasus keegani and H. liponyssoides.
- **Location and habitat:** Southern Oregon (Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lake counties), most of California (except the northwestern corner, the Central Valley and the southeastern deserts), extreme western Nevada, and Baja California, Mexico, south to La Grulla. Sea level to about 3,000 m. Moist, fairly rich soils with scant vegetation; also shrub-steppe with big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) in Oregon, forests of yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa) and sugar pine (P. lambertiana) at higher elevations and slopes with manzanita, chamiso, palo amarillo and California holly in Baja California, roadways, sand, cultivated ground, grassland and the intertidal zone at Point Lobos and elsewhere in California. Rarely in heavy clay, gravelly or stony soils.
- **Topics:** species account; taxonomy and synonyms; subspecies; body and skull measurements; distribution; fossil record; fur structure; teeth and tooth development; skeleton and muscles adapted for digging; metabolism; reproduction and litter size; habitat and soils; diet; captive feeding; parasites; predators; fossorial (underground) life; mole-runs (surface ridges) and volcano-shaped mounds; mound shape compared with pocket gopher mounds; running and swimming; one mole per burrow system; chromosomes and genetics; meaning of the name.
- **Statistics or models:** Descriptive statistics from earlier studies (means and ranges of measurements). Genetic similarity and genetic distance from an electrophoretic study.
- **Data type:** Review: a Mammalian Species account summarizing published literature, with no new field data. Possible slips in the paper: the skull measurements for S. l. sericatus are given for “Maricopa Co.”, while the body measurements for the same 7 females and 11 males are from Mariposa Co.; the metabolic rate is given for a 95-g adult, although all body masses reported in the account are 50 to 86 g; the vertebral formula lists 6 sacral vertebrae, while the sacrum is described as 5 fused vertebrae (the paper notes Reed counted only 5).

## Synopsis

### 1. What they did

This is a Mammalian Species account: a standard summary of what was known in 2001 about one species, the broad-footed mole of the western United States and Baja California, Mexico. The authors brought together published work on the mole’s names and subspecies, appearance, body and skull measurements, distribution, fossils, anatomy, reproduction, ecology, behaviour and genetics. The account includes photographs of the mole and its skull and skeleton, and a distribution map of the 12 subspecies.

### 2. What they found

Appearance and body

- A short, cylindrical body, a long pointed snout, tiny eyes hidden in the fur, no external ears, and short, velvety fur that is dark brown to silvery gray, often with a coppery or brassy wash.

- Very wide, nearly hairless front feet permanently turned outward, with long, wide claws; much smaller hind feet with shorter, more pointed claws.

- Moles in wetter northern and western areas are larger than those in drier southern areas, and males are usually slightly larger than females. Total length is roughly 130 to 190 mm, and adults weighed about 50 to 86 g.

- Each hair has stiff sections that alternate with thin, flat “hinge” sections, so the fur bends easily and the mole can move forward or backward in its tunnels with little friction.

Built for digging

- The collarbone, shoulder blade, upper arm and forearm are short, heavy and highly modified to anchor powerful digging muscles. The front foot cannot be brought under the body.

- An extra sickle-shaped bone widens the hand, and the claws make up more than half the length of the hand.

- The hip and short, fused lower leg bones help the mole brace the hind feet against the tunnel wall while digging or pushing soil.

Where they live

- Moist, fairly rich soils with scant vegetation, from sea level to about 3,000 m. They rarely occur in heavy clay, gravelly or stony soils, and sandy or loose soils are usually not occupied.

- Rocky areas and water are likely barriers, yet one subspecies lives only on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, and moles have been recorded swimming in rivers.

- Areas that dry out seasonally may be used only for part of the year.

Food and feeding

- The only stomach analysed held 80% snails and 20% beetles.

- In captivity, moles ate on average 70% of their body mass a day in dog food, and 85% when fed earthworms. They scraped food into the mouth with the nose and cleaned earthworms with their front feet, crushing a worm from end to end and back again, which squeezed mud out of its gut.

- Captive moles seemed to need free water.

Breeding

- Probably one litter a year of about 4 young. Young are 72 to 75 mm long at 10 days old and leave the nest at 30 to 35 days.

Predators

- Pine martens in eastern California ate moles except in winter (moles were in 2.6% of droppings). Barn owls, marsh hawks and red-tailed hawks took a few.

- Moles seem most at risk during breeding and when young disperse and leave their burrows.

Behaviour and signs

- Broad-footed moles live underground and are rarely active above ground.

- They make shallow tunnels about 2 cm deep while foraging for insects and worms, pushing up a ridge of soil with many lengthwise cracks (a “mole-run” or surface gallery). These tunnels are used irregularly.

- Deeper tunnels produce volcano-shaped mounds of pushed-up earth, quite different from the crescent-shaped mounds of pocket gophers. The freshest soil is in the core of the mound and rarely shows on the surface, and the mole is never exposed while building it.

- Each burrow system holds only one mole, but a new mole often moves in within 1 or 2 days after the occupant is removed. One mole was caught in a tunnel where a pocket gopher had been caught the day before, suggesting the two may share tunnel systems.

- On smooth concrete one mole ran at 0.6 m per second; in water it swam for 6 minutes without seeming to tire, and did not dive.

Genetics

- 34 chromosomes. Among the moles compared, the broad-footed mole was genetically most similar to Scapanus orarius.

### 3. What they concluded

As a review, the account does not draw new conclusions. It shows that much of what was known about the broad-footed mole came from anatomy, measurements and a few captive or anecdotal observations, and that some basics rest on very few animals (for example, diet from a single stomach). The authors also note that the narrow pelvis may not be an adaptation to underground life, because some relatives that do not burrow have equally narrow pelvises.

### 6. Other technologies, skills or innovations

- Earlier studies drawn on in the account used museum specimens, captive feeding trials, analysis of predator droppings and stomach contents, muscle tissue staining, chromosome counts and protein electrophoresis (a genetic method).

### 8. Implications for tracking (Original Wisdom's observations)

_These are Original Wisdom's observations, not the authors'._

- The account gives clear signs for a mole that is almost never seen: raised, cracked ridges from shallow foraging tunnels, and volcano-shaped mounds with no visible hole, which differ from the crescent-shaped mounds of pocket gophers. Mound shape could help trackers tell which digger is present.

- Because a burrow system can be taken over by a new mole within a day or two, fresh signs in a known system may not always come from the same individual.

## Cite this summary

Lawrence, K. 2026. Summary of: Scapanus latimanus (Verts and Carraway, 2001). Original Wisdom, Tracking Literature. https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/2001-verts-carraway-scapanus-latimanus/