📸 PhotoPhoto: Kudinov (present to Zagorodniuk) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Greater Blind Mole-rat
Spalax microphthalmus (Greater Blind Mole-rat · Greater Blind Mole-rat)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum head-and-body length of 31.5 cm is slightly longer than the long side of an A4 sheet of paper (29.7 cm), and its maximum weight of 818 g is slightly lighter than a 1 L carton of milk (about 1 kg) (Comparison).
- 💡 Its winter food store of 10–14 kg weighs as much as one or more 10 kg bags of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 Found in croplands, melon fields, and orchards, it is regarded as a crop pest and is sometimes trapped or poisoned.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Greater Blind Mole-rat is a large solitary rodent living underground in the steppes of Ukraine and southern Russia. Because its burrowing shapes soil and plant life, it is called an "ecosystem engineer."
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body is straw-tinged grayish brown with a straw-brown belly, while its head is paler and grayer. Its tail is not visible externally, males are larger than females, and its thick winter coat lasts from September until May–June of the following year.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It eats the roots, bulbs, and leaves of herbs such as dandelions and chicory as well as young trees, storing 10–14 kg of food for winter. It gives birth once a year to 2–5 young, and its burrows extend over 100–450 m with nest chambers lined with grass and leaves.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2024) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/20430/221789991
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1003801
- • iucnredlist.org — 221789991
- • wikidata.org — Q82434
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Звичайний сліпак Spalax microphthalmus.jpg
- • zenodo.org — 6608891
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Don Armstrong · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Spalax carmeli)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.