University of Bristol

Mike Taylor

When Fiona checked her email this morning, she found this note from our
next-door neighbour Jenny:

> Hi 
> I seem to remember Mike wanting a mole -- I do hope so because I've
> left you a body on your patio in a cereal box!
>
> Cheers Jen x

What a delightful surprise! And here it is:

::: {#attachment_10029 .wp-caption .aligncenter shortcode="caption" style="width: 490px"}
[![The SV-POW! mole,
intact](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg?w=480&h=360){.size-full
.wp-image-10029 aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10029"
loading="lazy" attachment-id="10029"
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image-title="IMG_1492" image-description=""
image-caption="The SV-POW! mole, intact
"
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg?w=300"
large-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg?w=1024"
width="480" height="360"
srcset="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg?w=480&h=360 480w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg?w=960&h=720 960w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg?w=150&h=113 150w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg?w=300&h=225 300w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg?w=768&h=576 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492.jpg)

The SV-POW! mole, intact
:::

And a close-up of that awesome digging hand:

::: {#attachment_10030 .wp-caption .aligncenter shortcode="caption" style="width: 490px"}
[![The SV-POW! mole, right
manus](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492-right-manus.jpg?w=480&h=360){.size-full
.wp-image-10030 aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10030"
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image-title="IMG_1492-right-manus" image-description=""
image-caption="The SV-POW! mole, right manus
"
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492-right-manus.jpg?w=300"
large-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492-right-manus.jpg?w=640"
width="480" height="360"
srcset="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492-right-manus.jpg?w=480&h=360 480w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492-right-manus.jpg?w=150&h=113 150w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492-right-manus.jpg?w=300&h=225 300w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492-right-manus.jpg 640w"
sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/img_1492-right-manus.jpg)

The SV-POW! mole, right manus
:::

I don't have time to deal with it properly right now, so it's gone into
a plastic box with some small holes in the lid, where I will trust
invertebrates to do my work for me --- as they did to great effect with
the juvenile baby rabbit whose skeleton I must show you some time.

The end-game here is of course to obtain a complete skeleton; but if not
that, then at least the upper-arm bones. [I'm on
record](https://twitter.com/MikeTaylor/status/184375823070015489) as
saying that next to sauropod vertebrae, mole humeri are the bones that
move me most; and
[elsewhere](https://twitter.com/MikeTaylor/status/380750878757507072) I
nominated mole humeri in response to [John Hutchinson's
question](https://twitter.com/JohnRHutchinson/status/380749194035621888),
"what are the strangest animal bones (in form & function etc) that have
ever been discovered?"

Here's why:

::: {#attachment_10031 .wp-caption .aligncenter shortcode="caption" style="width: 490px"}
[![Left: rat humerus (for comparison), Right: mole humerus. The rat
humerus is unfused on top, which is why there is a visible gap between
the two
parts.](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ratmolehumerus.jpg?w=480&h=406){.size-full
.wp-image-10031 aria-describedby="caption-attachment-10031"
loading="lazy" attachment-id="10031"
permalink="http://svpow.com/2014/03/21/behold-the-sv-pow-mole/ratmolehumerus/"
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orig-size="500,423" comments-opened="1"
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image-title="Ratmolehumerus" image-description=""
image-caption="Left: rat humerus (for comparison), Right: mole humerus. The rat humerus is unfused on top, which is why there is a visible gap between the two parts.
"
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ratmolehumerus.jpg?w=300"
large-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ratmolehumerus.jpg?w=500"
width="480" height="406"
srcset="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ratmolehumerus.jpg?w=480&h=406 480w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ratmolehumerus.jpg?w=150&h=127 150w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ratmolehumerus.jpg?w=300&h=254 300w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ratmolehumerus.jpg 500w"
sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ratmolehumerus.jpg)

Left: rat humerus (for comparison), Right: mole humerus. The rat humerus
is unfused on top, which is why there is a visible gap between the two
parts.
:::

I stole this picture from an
[Ossamenta](http://ossamenta.dreamwidth.org/) post, *[The strangest
animal bone?](http://ossamenta.dreamwidth.org/24900.html)*. Get yourself
over there for more wacky rat-vs.-mole comparisons!

When Fiona checked her email this morning, she found this note from our next-door neighbour Jenny:  What a delightful surprise! And here it is: The SV-POW! mole, intact  And a close-up of that awesome digging hand: The SV-POW!

Publicaciones de Rogue Scholar

Behold, the SV-POW! mole!