Prehistoric ‘scalopini’ mole fossil uncovered in an ancient Spanish volcano crater

Researchers have discovered a new genus and species of prehistoric mole in Spain. Vulcanoscaptor ninoti lived during the Pliocene Epoch, from 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago and belonged to the Scalopini, a tribe of moles that currently exists in North America and Asia. 

Before we dive into the details of a discovery, there is one matter we should immediately set straight. If “Scalopini” sounds familiar, you’re probably thinking of scallopine, or scallopini—a delicious Italian dish consisting of thin sautéed slices of meat served in a variety of sauces. Needless to say that the food scallopine will (unfortunately) not be playing a large part in this story. 

Researchers found V. ninoti in an excellent state of preservation, recovering its mandible with a complete set of teeth, sections of the torso, and a number of leg bones in their correct anatomical connection. The specimen represents one of the oldest and most complete small mammal fossils in Europe, as they explain in a study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The team examined the delicate remains via high-resolution micro-computed tomography (microCT) scanning, which generated a 3D reconstruction of the skeleton. “With the microCT, we were able to analyze extremely small and delicate structures—such as phalanges and teeth—that would have been nearly impossible to study otherwise,” Adriana Linares, lead author of the study and a predoctoral researcher at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, explained in a statement.

While the anatomy of the fossil indicates that the animal was a strong digger and highly adapted to an underground lifestyle, “the fact that this individual was preserved in lacustrine [lake] sediments and in a lateral position raises the possibility that it may also have had some aquatic locomotion abilities,” Linares added. “We can’t confirm this with certainty yet, but there are modern moles that are powerful diggers and also excellent swimmers.”

The name Vulcanoscaptor ninoti means “the Camp dels Ninots volcano digger” in reference to where it was discovered. Camp dels Ninots is an important paleontological site in the crater of an ancient volcano near Girona in northeastern Spain. An eruption about 3.1 million years ago created ideal conditions for the preservation of fossils. In fact, the researchers claim that V. ninoti is also the most complete known Pliocene mole fossil from Europe, presenting an excellent opportunity to investigate the evolutionary history of the small mammals.

[ Related: These moles may have been hiding for 3 million years. ]

“Despite its clearly fossorial morphology, this mole is closely related to extant North American species of the genera Scapanus and Scalopus, which points to a far more intricate evolutionary history for these animals than we had imagined,” said Marc Furió, co-lead of the study and a geologist at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. “Its presence in Europe suggests past transcontinental migrations of moles, challenging the assumption that they are mammals with low dispersal capacity.”

It seems like both prehistoric and modern mole species still have a lot of surprises in store for paleontologists.