Mole Rat

Mole rat or mole-rat refers to several groups of burrowing rodents or * Bathyergidae, a family of about 20 species from Africa, including:

  • Heterocephalus glaber, the naked mole rat
  • Spalacidae, a family of about 30 species from Eurasia and northeast Africa, including:
    • Tachyoryctes, a genus of about 15 species from Africa
    • Blind mole rats (Spalacinae), a subfamily of about 15 living species from southeastern Europe, southwestern Asia, and northeastern Africa;
    • Zokors (Myospalacinae), occasionally called mole rats, about eight species from central and eastern Asia
  • Nesokia indica from southern and southwestern Asia and Egypt, also known as the short-tailed mole rat
  • Bandicota bengalensis from southern Asia, also known as the Indian mole rat
  • Chelemys macronyx from southernmost South America, also known as the mountain mole rat

Famous quotes containing the words mole and/or rat:

    “For like a mole I journey in the dark,
    A-travelling along the underground”
    —John Davidson (1857–1909)

    “Your rat tail is all the fashion now. I prefer a bushy plume, carried straight up. You are Siamese and your ancestors lived in trees. Mine lived in palaces. It has been suggested to me that I am a bit of a snob. How true! I prefer to be.”
    —Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)