Notes on the relationship between the burrowing capacity, size and shoulder anatomy of some eastern Asiatic moles

Talpa micrura leucura and T. m. malayana make superficial burrows through tropical forest floor litter. They do not dig deeply into the soil or produce mole heaps as does Talpa europaea. Although some comparatively minor points of difference between the shoulder girdles of the eastern and European species are of sufficient interest to be described, it is suggested that it is the greater size and strength of Talpa europaea that enables it to perform the heavy manual labour of deep digging which T. m. leucura and T. m. malayana are not powerful enough to undertake.