Silvery mole-rat
Heliophobius argenteocinereus Peters, 1846
The silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) is a species in the family Bathyergidae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 89 g to 181 g and live up to 3.1 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the silvery mole-rat
- Weight
- 89 g – 181 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 3.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 87.6 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.53src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.38src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the silvery mole-rat live?
Not recorded
What is the silvery mole-rat?
The silvery mole-rat, silvery blesmol, or silky mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) is a species of mole-rat of East Africa which occurs in southern Kenya, Tanzania, southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Malawi. Solitary and aggressive, little is known about its ecology or behavior. It is monotypic in the genus Heliophobius. A common species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".
From the Wikipedia article “Silvery mole-rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silvery_mole-rat&oldid=1381899951), 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 silvery mole-rat endangered?
The silvery mole-rat 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 silvery mole-rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyBathyergidae
- genusHeliophobius
- SpeciesHeliophobius argenteocinereus Peters, 1846
Synonyms Heliophobius argenteocinereus albifrons, Heliophobius argenteocinereus angonicus, Heliophobius argenteocinereus argenteocinereus, Heliophobius argenteocinereus emini, Heliophobius argenteocinereus marungensis, Heliophobius argenteocinereus mottoulei, Heliophobius argenteocinereus robustus, Heliophobius argenteocinereus spalax, Heliophobius spalax
Other names and names in other languages (19)
- Sand ratEnglish
- Silky mole-ratEnglish
- Silvery blesmolEnglish
- Silvery mole ratEnglish
- Silvery mole ratEnglish
- Silvery mole ratEnglish
- Southern silvery mole-ratEnglish
- جرذ الخلد الفضيArabic
- rypoš stříbřitýCzech
- SilbermullGerman
- Silbergrauer ErdbohrerGerman
- hämymyyrikköFinnish
- Grand Rat-taupeFrench
- シルバーデバネズミJapanese
- Sølvgrå SandrgraverNorwegian Bokmål
- Zilvergrijze ZandratDutch
- kretoszczurek srebrzystyPolish
- Rato-toupeira-prateadoPortuguese
- Серебристый тенелюбRussian
Relatives of the silvery mole-rat
Other species in the same genus Heliophobius.
Northern silvery mole-rat
Heliophobius kapiti
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the silvery mole-rat?
An adult silvery mole-rat weighs 89 g – 181 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the silvery mole-rat endangered?
The silvery mole-rat is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the silvery mole-rat live?
The silvery mole-rat has a recorded lifespan of 3.1 years.
How long is the silvery mole-rat pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 87.6 days.
What kind of animal is the silvery mole-rat?
The silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus) belongs to the family Bathyergidae in the order Rodentia.
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). Silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/silvery-mole-rat
“Silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/silvery-mole-rat.
@misc{silvery_mole_rat_2026,
title = {Silvery mole-rat (Heliophobius argenteocinereus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/silvery-mole-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}