This species occurs in South African and Lesotho. Restricted to montane habitats from Beaufort West and Sutherland in Western Cape northeastwards to the Drakenberg mountains of Eastern Cape, western KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mpumalanga, and the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho and western Free State. Distributional limits of the four subspecies are unclear owing to poor geographic sampling, but their known ranges are separated by seemingly inhospitable habitat suggesting that they may be geographically isolated (Bronner 1995).

Sclater's Golden Moles are found scattered around areas in Lesotho and South Africa. They range from Cape Province northeast towards southeastern Transvaal and to the eastern Orange Free State

(Massicot 2000).

Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )

Sclater's Golden Moles range in size from 80 to 110 mm in length. Their golden, fur-covered bodies have special morphological features to aid in digging; wedged shaped skulls, short strong necks, robust shoulders, and forelimbs with large claws (Kingdon 1974). The pelage is glossy brown with a reddish tinge on the sides, the ventral pelage is gray. Sclater's Golden Moles have a claw on their third, front digit which measures about 9 mm. They weigh from 40 to 75 grams (Nowak, 1991; Massicot, 2000).

Since most of their time is spent underground, these mammals are blind. They have eyes that are covered by fur and very small ears that are also hidden in fur. Males and females are similar but males tend to weigh more.

Range mass: 40 to 70 g.

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial

Sclater's Golden Moles live in the dry sandy soils found in parts of South Africa and Lesothos. They can be found most often near rocky hillsides (Massicot 2000).

Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland

Sclater's Golden Moles are insectivores that feed on invertebrates such as crickets, grasshoppers, snails, and earthworms. These prey are abundant in the earth where the moles spend most of their time. They are blind and find their prey through smell and touch. Once they catch their prey, worms are usually swallowed while insects are chewed (Kingdon 1974).

Sclater's Golden Moles breed one or two times a year and have one or two young per litter. Both males and females urinate and mate using one opening called a cloaca, not two, as in most mammals (Ciszek 1997). The primary mating season is in the spring and summer.

The young are born without fur in a leaf and grass-lined nest in a burrow where they nurse for two to three months. After three months they are slowly weaned off their mother's milk and eventually go off on their own. Scent glands are used for communication between moles, especially between mothers and their offspring and between sexes during the mating season (Kingdon 1974).

Sclater's Golden Moles are vulnerable to extinction because their habitat is being destroyed by land clearance for agriculture and erosion (Massicott 2000). In agricultural areas they are frequently dug up accidentally by farmers working on the land (Kingdon 1974).

US Federal List: threatened

CITES: appendix i

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Population

Population Trend

Major Threats

Conservation Actions

They do not adversely affect humans.

These moles eat insects and snails, they help keep the number of pests down. This helps the vegetation in this sometimes harsh sandy area to flourish. They also aid farmers by keeping insect populations under control (Massicot 2000).