The eastern mole digs underground tunnels and feeds on earthworms and beetle larvae. Its broad front feet are adapted for digging.
Its front feet are broad and shovel-like, with webbing reaching the base of the claws. The eyes and ears are not visible, and the nose is pointed.
Eastern moles live underground in networks of tunnels. Damp, enclosed soil can contain less oxygen and more carbon dioxide than surface air. A 2010 study examined eastern-mole haemoglobin and found an unusual combination: it has low oxygen affinity and is insensitive to a red-cell molecule that affects haemoglobin in many mammals.
The authors proposed that this trait may help blood carry carbon dioxide during short, intense bouts of tunnelling. That idea differs from the familiar pattern in which animals facing low oxygen evolve haemoglobin that binds oxygen more tightly. The study links a distinctive blood feature to the eastern mole's life in underground burrows.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Eastern moles favour moist, invertebrate-rich soils and excavate closed burrow systems. The study reports that their haemoglobin has low oxygen affinity and is insensitive to a common red-cell regulator. The authors propose that this trait may support carbon-dioxide transport during bouts of tunnelling. Their tunnels are oxygen-poor, carbon-dioxide-rich spaces, and moles may breathe some of the air they have just exhaled while digging.