European mole
Talpa europaea Linnaeus, 1758
The European mole (Talpa europaea), also called the mole or common mole, is a small mammal in the family Talpidae and the order Eulipotyphla. It is an invertivore whose main food is earthworm, and it is a terrestrial, cathemeral animal.
Quick facts about the European mole
Adults weigh 77 g, with weights up to 110.4 g reported, and lifespan is 4 years, with values up to 7 years reported. The European mole is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 77 g – 110.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 4 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 7 years
- Main food
- earthwormsrc for Main food
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 31.3 days – 41 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.99src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 10.7 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.08src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the European mole
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the European mole live?
Not recorded
What is the European mole?
The European mole (Talpa europaea) is a mammal of the order Eulipotyphla. It is also known as the common mole and the northern mole.
This mole lives in a tunnel system, which it constantly extends. It uses these tunnels to hunt its prey. Under normal conditions, the displaced earth is pushed to the surface, resulting in the characteristic molehills. It is an omnivore that feeds mainly on earthworms, but also on insects, centipedes and mammals such as rodents and other moles. Its saliva contains toxins which paralyse earthworms in particular.
From the Wikipedia article “European mole” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=European_mole&oldid=1380863386), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the European mole endangered?
The European mole is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the European mole classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderEulipotyphla
- familyTalpidae
- genusTalpa
- SpeciesTalpa europaea Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Talpa alba, Talpa albida, Talpa albomaculata, Talpa brauneri, Talpa caudata, Talpa cinerea, Talpa europaea cinerea, Talpa europaea europaea, Talpa europaea kratochvilli, Talpa europaea velessiensis, Talpa flavescens, Talpa friseus, Talpa grisea, Talpa lutea, Talpa maculata, Talpa nigra, Talpa panici, Talpa rufa, Talpa scalops, Talpa uralensis, Talpa variegata, Talpa vulgaris
Other names and names in other languages (65)
- Common moleEnglish
- MoleEnglish
- Tabonero comúnAragonese
- ScherBavarian
- WiahlscherBavarian
- Крот еўрапейскіBelarusian
- Европейска къртицаBulgarian
- Goz EuropaBreton
- TalpCatalan
- krtek obecnýCzech
- KretKashubian
- GwahaddenWelsh
- GwahaddodWelsh
- Twrch DaearWelsh
- (Europæisk) muldvarpDanish
- MuldvarpDanish
- Europäischer MaulwurfGerman
- MaulwurfGerman
- Ευρωπαϊκός ΑσπάλακαςGreek
- Ευρωπαϊκός ΤυφλοπόντικαςGreek
- Eŭropa talpoEsperanto
- Topo comúnSpanish
- Topo EuropeoSpanish
- MuttEstonian
- Sator arruntBasque
- MaamyyräFinnish
- kontiainenFinnish
- Taupe d'EuropeFrench
- DarbonArpitan
- famhScottish Gaelic
- faimh / famhanScottish Gaelic
- Toupa europeaGalician
- חפרפרת אירופיתHebrew
- KrticaCroatian
- közönséges vakondHungarian
- TalpaItalian
- Talpa europeaItalian
- ヨーロッパモグラJapanese
- 유럽두더지Korean
- MaulwuerfLuxembourgish
- KurmisLithuanian
- Eiropas kurmisLatvian
- MoldvarpNorwegian Bokmål
- EuropamuldvarpNorwegian Bokmål
- Europeisk MuldvarpNorwegian Bokmål
- Vanlig MuldvarpNorwegian Bokmål
- MolDutch
- Europese molDutch
- Gewone MolDutch
- kret europejskiPolish
- Toupeira-europeiaPortuguese
- CârtițaRomanian
- CârtițăRomanian
- Европейский кротRussian
- Обыкновенный кротRussian
- MowdiwarpScots
- Krt obyčajnýSlovak
- navadni krtSlovenian
- европска кртицаSerbian
- WrouteSaterland Frisian
- mullvadSwedish
- KöstebekTurkish
- Avrupa KöstebeğiTurkish
- Кріт ЄвропейськийUkrainian
- 歐洲鼴鼠Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the European mole
Other species in the same genus Talpa.
Blind mole
Talpa caeca
Altai mole
Talpa altaica
Caucasian mole
Talpa caucasica
Père David's mole
Talpa davidiana
Levant mole
Talpa levantis
Iberian mole
Talpa occidentalis
CompareEuropean mole vs Blind moleEuropean mole vs Altai moleEuropean mole vs Caucasian moleEuropean mole vs Père David's mole
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the European mole?
The European mole is a small mammal in the family Talpidae, order Eulipotyphla.
How heavy is a European mole?
An adult European mole weighs 77 g, and weights up to 110.4 g have been reported.
What does the European mole eat?
The European mole is an invertivore, and its main food is earthworm.
How long does a European mole live?
The European mole has a lifespan of 4 years, and values up to 7 years have been reported.
Is the European mole endangered?
No. The European mole is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
Who named the European mole?
The European mole, Talpa europaea, was named by Linnaeus in 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). European mole (Talpa europaea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/european-mole
“European mole (Talpa europaea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/european-mole.
@misc{european_mole_2026,
title = {European mole (Talpa europaea)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/european-mole},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}