How many baby Townsend’s moles are in a litter?
A Townsend’s mole (Scapanus townsendii) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.With 1 litters per year, that sums up to a yearly offspring of 1 babies.
Each of those little ones spend around 23 days as a fetus before they are released into the wild. Upon birth, they weight 3 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 1.6 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Talpidae family (genus: Scapanus). An adult Townsend’s mole grows up to a size of 8.7 cm (0′ 4″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The Townsend’s mole (Scapanus townsendii) is a fossorial mammal in the family Talpidae, and is the largest North American mole.It is found in open lowland and wooded areas with moist soils along the Pacific coast from southwestern British Columbia to northwestern California. This animal’s total range in Canada is estimated to be 20 km² (7.7 sq mi). Townsend’s mole is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN; however, in Canada it is considered an endangered species.This animal has velvety black fur, a pointed snout and a short, thick, a tail with barely any hair. It is about 21 cm (8.3 in) in length including a 4 cm (1.6 in) tail, and weighs about 138 grams (4.9 oz). Its front paws are broad and spade-shaped, specialized for digging; the rear paws are smaller. It has 44 teeth. Its ears are not visible and it has small eyes. It is similar in appearance to the smaller coast mole.This mole spends most of its time underground, foraging in shallow burrows for earthworms, small invertebrates and plant material. It is active year-round.This animal is mainly solitary except during mating in late winter. The female has a litter of two to four young in a deep burrow.This animal was named after the American naturalist John Kirk Townsend. The name was selected at the request of Thomas Nuttall as a patronym to honor Townsend’s contribution.
Other animals of the family Talpidae
Townsend’s mole is a member of the Talpidae, as are these animals:
- Blind mole weighting only 70 grams
- Himalayan mole becoming 1.5 years old
- Balkan mole weighting only 70 grams
- Echigo mole weighting only 163 grams
- True’s shrew mole with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Japanese mountain mole with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Star-nosed mole with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Spanish mole weighting only 48 grams
- Japanese mole with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Kobe mole with 3 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Townsend’s mole
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Hildegarde’s tomb bat
- Galápagos fur seal
- Prince Demidoff’s bushbaby
- Javan surili
- Mandrill
- Nancy Ma’s night monkey
- Leadbeater’s possum
- Eastern bettong
- Commerson’s roundleaf bat
- Brazilian spiny tree-rat
Animals that get as old as a Townsend’s mole
Other animals that usually reach the age of 1.5 years:
- Atlantic bamboo rat with 1.58 years
- Himalayan mole with 1.5 years
- Texas mouse with 1.5 years
- Ornate shrew with 1.42 years
- Southern red-backed vole with 1.67 years
- Southern marsupial mole with 1.5 years
- Cotton mouse with 1.25 years
- Western harvest mouse with 1.5 years
- White-eared opossum with 1.67 years
- Alpine shrew with 1.25 years
Animals with the same weight as a Townsend’s mole
What other animals weight around 70 grams (0.15 lbs)?
- Dressy Oldfield mouse weighting 76 grams
- Euryoryzomys russatus weighting 60 grams
- Sonoma chipmunk weighting 75 grams
- Black-tailed mosaic-tailed rat weighting 60 grams
- Oecomys superans weighting 73 grams
- Long-nosed mosaic-tailed rat weighting 82 grams
- Patagonian opossum weighting 78 grams
- Slender squirrel weighting 74 grams
- Red hocicudo weighting 82 grams
- Nelson’s spiny pocket mouse weighting 67 grams
Animals with the same size as a Townsend’s mole
Also reaching around 8.7 cm (0′ 4″) in size do these animals:
- Serra do Mar grass mouse gets as big as 9.6 cm (0′ 4″)
- Savanna path shrew gets as big as 8.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- White-eared pocket mouse gets as big as 7.5 cm (0′ 3″)
- Meadow jumping mouse gets as big as 8.6 cm (0′ 4″)
- Brazilian gracile opossum gets as big as 9.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- San Diego pocket mouse gets as big as 8.3 cm (0′ 4″)
- Short-nosed harvest mouse gets as big as 7.2 cm (0′ 3″)
- São Paulo grass mouse gets as big as 8.8 cm (0′ 4″)
- Cozumel harvest mouse gets as big as 8.7 cm (0′ 4″)
- Sandy inland mouse gets as big as 8.2 cm (0′ 4″)