News Animals

Mole or marsupial? This subterranean critter with a backward pouch is both

Genetics finally reveal where this enigmatic animal belongs on the family tree

A marsupial mole, that looks all golden hair and button nose, munches on a centipede.

This Australian mole, shown eating a centipede, may look like South Africa’s golden mole but it is more closely related to kangaroos than to the other moles of the world.

Mike Gillam/Auscape/Minden Pictures

By Susan Milius

Evolving a dig-in-the-dark mole lifestyle comes with radical anatomical changes, making it hard even to guess the animal’s closest relatives.