What are star-nosed moles? The star-nosed mole, Condylura cristata, is one of about 30 species of mole in the mammalian order Insectivora. Although they are rarely seen, they are relatively common in the wetlands of eastern North America and Canada. They weigh about 30–50 grams and have large clawed forelimbs for digging their extensive underground burrows. Like most other moles, they give birt...

To date, no genes have been characterized from mitochondrial DNA of hypotrichous ciliates. Here we present the complete sequence of the gene (cyb) encoding cytochrome b in the hypotrichous ciliate Pseudourostyla cristata. Analysis of nucleotide and deduced amino acids sequences predicts a protein of 393 amino acids encoded by cyb. CYB amino acid similarity and phylogenetic tree analyses strongl...

The aardwolf, Proteles cristata, is a highly specialized myrmecophagous carnivore that feeds almost exclusively on termites of the genus Trinervitermes. Here we report data from an ongoing analysis of aardwolf diet, where we documented remains of sun spiders and scorpions in aardwolf scats. Although the prevalence of these items was low, with sun spiders recorded in nine and scorpion remains in...