GIBBS SHREW-MOLE

There are many connecting links, only one is the "missing link".

Today Assistant Chief Ranger Macy picked up on the Reflection Lake trail a dead insectivora. A post mortem examination made later at the naturalist's office showed that the little fellow had been struck from above by some sharp instrument, likely the talons of a hawk or owl.

An insectivora is not a "bug", but a "bug"-eating mammal. The tiny specimen was dark brown all over, and less than three inches in length. At first glance he was pronounced a shrew, likely a Dusky Shrew. He had the long nose of the shrew, the size, the color, and the shape, but the heavy digging fore feet of the mole. The tail was heavier and shorter than the shrews and the eyes and ears less prominent. In fact, he would pass very well for a miniature mole. Careful examination developed the interesting fact that it was one of the rare shrew-moles known as the Gibbs Shrew-mole, (Neurotrichus gibbsii gibbsii), the connecting link between the shrews and the moles.

Like the moles, he is a burrowing animal spending most of his time beneath the surface. No eyes are visible from the outside but the skinning operation exposed minute eye-spots attached to the skin. No doubt they are light sensative but not image producing eyes.