Levant mole
Talpa levantis
James Eaton · Dilijan National Park
Key facts in one look
- Diet
- Insectivore: caterpillars, larvae, earthworms
- Status in Georgia
- Resident, widespread
- Size
- Body 8.2–12.5 cm, weight 21–67 g
- Habitat
- Deciduous forest, valley, mountain meadow
- Family
- Talpidae
- Conservation
- LC / LC
The Levant mole (Talpa levantis) is one of the smallest Eurasian moles: it weighs 21–67 g. In Georgia it has been found in many places: from Zugdidi and Batumi to Kutaisi, Gori, Tbilisi, Omalo and Lagodekhi. Unlike other moles, it eats mainly insects, especially moth caterpillars. It often lives alongside the Caucasian mole, and telling the two apart in the field is almost impossible. Some recent studies treat the Caucasian populations as a separate species, Talpa transcaucasica.
Identification
Levant mole: how to identify it
A small mole with blackish grey or black fur and eyes hidden under the skin. The feet are pale, the front claws whitish, the tip of the snout light and the nose pad black. It looks very much like the Caucasian mole: the reliable feature is in the collarbone.
Males measure 82–125 mm, females 84–123 mm, with a tail of 20–37 mm and a hind foot of 14.5–20 mm. Males weigh 22–65 g, females 21–67 g. Size varies strongly between regions: moles of the central Caucasus are 85% heavier than those of the northwestern Caucasus. They are larger at higher elevations and smaller where they live alongside the Caucasian mole.
The fur is blackish grey or black. The feet are pale and the front claws whitish. The tip of the snout is light and the nose pad black. The eyes lie under the skin.
The Caucasian mole shares its range and has even been caught in the same tunnels. Where both live, the Levant mole is usually smaller, but separate populations overlap in size. The only reliable external feature is the collarbone: perforated in the Levant mole, solid in the Caucasian mole. You cannot see this on a live animal, so do not separate the two species by sight alone in the field.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
The Levant mole chooses deep, damp soil, from sea level to about 2400 m. In the Caucasus it lives in many places but prefers deciduous oak and beech forest. Water nearby matters, so it is most numerous in river valleys, along streams and around lakes. Above the treeline it is scarce and lives only in moist hollows. In the forests of the western Caucasus it is less common than the Caucasian mole, but on alpine and subalpine meadows it dominates. It is widespread in Georgia. It has been found in Zugdidi, Batumi and Keda, Kutaisi, Sachkhere and Tkibuli, Bakuriani and Abastumani, Dmanisi, Gori, Kaspi and Mtskheta, Tbilisi and Kojori, Pasanauri, Gudauri and Kobi, Omalo, Kvareli, Gurjaani and Lagodekhi. It also occurs on the coast of Abkhazia, near Gudauta and Bichvinta.
The Levant mole feeds mainly on insects: in the Caucasus, 96% of the stomachs examined contained insects and 62% contained earthworms. It most often eats caterpillars, especially of owlet moths, and takes more larvae than adult insects. It also eats beetles and their larvae, and centipedes. This sets it apart from the Caucasian mole, whose main food is earthworms.
The Levant mole is active around the clock, with two peaks: at 5–7 in the morning and in the evening. It digs both deep and surface tunnels. On subalpine meadows its surface tunnels run 10–15 cm deep, while in forest they lie only a few centimetres down or simply lift the loose soil. Permanent tunnels go down to 50 cm. In a forest of the Lesser Caucasus, 42 moles were counted per hectare, and up to seven were caught in one tunnel. In the northern Caucasus it breeds from late February to March, and earlier in milder Transcaucasia. There is one litter a year of 2–5 young, 3.7 on average. The young grow fast: by late May they reach 93.7 mm and 34 g. They mature at about 11 months, and the oldest known lived to six years.
Globally the Levant mole is not threatened (LC, 2016). Georgia's 2021 national assessment also lists it as Least Concern (LC), and its numbers are stable. It is a common species, although it rarely reaches high densities. It is listed in the regional red books of Kabardino-Balkaria and Chechnya in Russia.
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Across almost the whole country. It has been found in Zugdidi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Bakuriani, Gori, Tbilisi, Pasanauri and Gudauri, Omalo, Kvareli and Lagodekhi. It lives from sea level to about 2400 m and is most numerous near water.
Where both live, the Levant mole is usually smaller, but their sizes often overlap. The only reliable external feature is the collarbone: perforated in the Levant mole, solid in the Caucasian mole. Their diets differ too: the Levant mole eats mainly insects, the Caucasian mole earthworms.
Mainly insects: in the Caucasus, 96% of stomachs contained them. Most often it eats moth caterpillars and insect larvae. Earthworms turned up in 62% of stomachs, but they are not its main food.
Both names are in use. Caucasian moles belong to the eastern lineage of the Levant mole, which split from the western one more than two million years ago. Studies from 2020 and 2023 treat it as a separate species, Talpa transcaucasica, while some authors keep it as a subspecies of Talpa levantis.
It is not threatened: it is Least Concern globally (2016) and LC in Georgia's 2021 assessment. Its numbers are stable. In some Russian regions, Kabardino-Balkaria and Chechnya, it is in the red book.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
