The Russian desman is a mole relative that lives by water. It has a flexible snout and fully webbed hind feet.
Its long snout is flexible, its hind feet are webbed, and its coat has a waterproof double layer.
The Russian desman is a semiaquatic mammal with a fragmented range. From 1983 to 1992, researchers studied captive animals at the Moscow Zoo (four females and one male) and a field station at Chernogolovka (one female and four males). They recorded calls as sonagrams and compared them with behavior observed at the same time; field trips to the Oka Reserve wetlands helped check the captive observations.
The study described a varied call repertoire and showed that both sexes could stay together year-round when a group included only one adult female. A newcomer male was sometimes tolerated after keeping his distance for several days. Females also showed territorial dominance.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
A 1996 paper describes the Russian desman as a highly endangered mammal confined to separated areas. Protecting rivers and wetlands supports the populations that depend on them.