Russian desman

Gestation lasts 37.2 days (up to 50 days reported), litters hold 5 young, there are 2.2 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 151 days. The IUCN Red List assesses the russian desman globally as Critically Endangered (CR), a threatened category.

Weight

383 g – 983.8 gsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Lifespan

7.91 years – 10 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Invertivoresrc for Diet

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

Not recorded

Gestation

37.2 days – 50 dayssrc for Gestation

Young per litter or clutch

3.5 – 5.07src for Young per litter or clutch

Age at maturity

4.96 monthssrc for Age at maturity

Litters or clutches a year

2.22src for Litters or clutches a year

Active

At night (nocturnal)src for Active

Lifestyle

Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle

Conservation status

Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The russian desman is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

1. LCLeast Concern
2. NTNear Threatened
3. VUVulnerable
4. ENEndangered
5. CRCritically Endangered
6. EWExtinct in the Wild
7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Critically Endangered species.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classMammalia
4. orderEulipotyphla
5. familyTalpidae
6. genusDesmana
7. SpeciesDesmana moschata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Castor moschatus

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

CompareRussian desman vs Desmana marci

• 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).

@misc{russian_desman_2026,
  title = {Russian desman (Desmana moschata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/russian-desman},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}