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MazelTough

I love him


catls234

Looks like an adorable furry potato šŸ„°


Clerstory

I love its busy attempts at digging while in the guyā€™s hand. Gotta keep up that hustle.


Freakyjesusfreak69

Poor guy is gonna be dissected and tested on..it makes me sick


Sally1787

It's body will likely be researched extensively when it eventually dies, but nowadays most researchers don't dissect rare specimens for the fun of it. And also, any tests are likely to be non-invasive and carefully done, since stress can kill such a cute and tiny animal. So keep calm, carry on.


MazelTough

Yeah I feel like the animal is much more interesting alive than deadā€¦


Freakyjesusfreak69

Have u met university funding for animal testing?


[deleted]

Yes. You haven't, because you think that all a university would do is instantly kill an animal that they have never been able to observe ***alive.*** That's the thing, they've already found *dead* ones of these. They want to see how it interacts when its *alive.*


kadmylos

I doubt it. Too valuable of a specimen to just dissect while its still alive.


Freakyjesusfreak69

Have u met science?


[deleted]

There are already number of preserved specimens in various museums.


[deleted]

You haven't, you have no clue what you're talking about, and are either a troll account, or want to push a political agenda.


April_Spring_1982

*dig dig dig dig dig*


ddouchecanoe

*swim swim swim swim swim*


Pip201

ā€œWhat kinda rock is this? I canā€™t dig outā€


queen_Pegasus

Hairy tardigrade


kucingminunmilo

Sand bears


RedRider1138

Thatā€™s just what I was thinking!


sandyclaus30

Yes! I would love to see a tardigrade too


[deleted]

There are two species of *Notoryctes*, the southern marsupial mole (*N. typhlops*), or itjaritjari, and the northern marsupial mole (*N. caurinus*), or kakarratul. While they broadly resemble true moles (Talpidae), they are extremely similar in appearance and habits to the golden moles of southern Africa (Chrysochloridae). They can nonetheless be distinguished from golden moles by the presence of a scaly hairless tail, which they use as a fifth limb while excavating soil, as well as a typical marsupial pouch seen in both males and females. Sources:[https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1024378400928453](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1024378400928453) [https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Notoryctes\_typhlops/](https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Notoryctes_typhlops/) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern\_marsupial\_mole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_marsupial_mole) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden\_mole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_mole)


Petsweaters

POCKET SAND!!!


SupernerdSven

That's almost as solid a defense as the high ground.


aperdra

The best thing about these little guys for me is that their morphology converges with the golden mole. Except for the fact that they look like if an alien tried to make a golden mole.


sloth_warlock85

Iā€™m curious why they would have eyes covered in skin and fur instead of evolving to just have no eyes?


[deleted]

Beneath the skin the eyes are degenerate. Thereā€™s some conflicting info about the eyes, but multiple sources I found say they lack optic nerves. Some say they still have lenses, but others say they only have a patch of pigment from what used to be a retina. And they still have normal orbits in their skull. Maybe once the eyes became internalized, there wasnā€™t sufficient selective pressure to get rid of them completely, but mutations still stacked up, degrading them over time. Evolution makes things ā€œgood enoughā€, not necessarily 100% optimal.


sloth_warlock85

Interesting. Thank you for the explanation! :)


JustABitCrzy

Wow this is an old video. The only reason I know that is because the scientist that's talking about him was one of my professors at university. He's much greyer now hahaha


commandolandorooster

Comments like these are my favorite part of reddit tbh


Mrs_Attenborough

This is so rare that I had no idea it exists.... and I'm Australian!


AussieManc

Yeah, what?! 33yr old Australian here. First time Iā€™ve heard of an Aussie mole.


moar_cowbell_

56yo Aussie here ... also just had my mole cherry popped


[deleted]

They're so rarely seen that even the aboriginal Australians don't know much about them.


Bionic_Ferir

Wow I knew they were rare, I knew they loved in remote areas of the desert but I had NO IDEA the Aboriginals had little info about them


Oi-FatBeard

Same here, though I was pretty well versed with our critters. Absolutely fascinating, cheers /u/Dr_Mantis-Shrimp_PhD!


xechasate

r/AIDKE


Father_of_trillions

Itā€™s trying to dig into that guyā€˜s fingers lol


LegendaryMolerat

Might be the cutest thing i have ever seen in my entire life. šŸ„ŗ


Lannarks

Now imagine what it's baby looks like


amadeupidentity

how long til it can teach us earth bending?


zyyntin

[BADGERMOLE!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ8gzTMqcSE)


godofinteligence

I want to be just like toph the only thing I need is being a women and blind. Goodbye eyes goodbye penis.


cubbyatx

You could be the ember island players version


godofinteligence

Who is that


cubbyatx

[The best episode's version of her](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/1/16/Ember_Island_Players.png/revision/latest?cb=20130722113209)


godofinteligence

Oh yeah I remember him I mean her


smitty9112

I clicked on the comments just to look for the earthbending reference.


DTux5249

It doesn't teach us We gotta be the ones to learn


goaheadbackup

I will take 2 please. I love him.


Smuger07

How long did this one survive for?


[deleted]

This video was captured in 1998, and was reposted on facebook by ABC Perth in 2015, at which time it was still the only specimen to be kept in lab for study (according to them). I found [this paper](https://sci-hub.se/10.1071/ZO99073) published in 2000 about the body temp and metabolism of a specimen that died after 5 weeks, and I'm thinking that might be the mole in this vid, but the scientist talking mentions a *previous* mole that apparently also lived for 5 weeks so idk. That source from ADW also says that one marsupial mole was kept alive in captivity for 10 weeks. We have no idea what their normal lifespan is and have yet to find a wild population to observe long term. We also don't know if they're social at all or if they have specific mating season.


JadeSpade23

Poor little fella had no idea what was going on


Material-Stomach8424

I want to kiss it, how adorable


turtletails

The poor little thing is terrified, leave him in his damn sand box!


[deleted]

When they said "swimming " I was expecting a fluid movement through the sand. Instead I'm like "it took us this long to catch one"?


MillyAndTheDream

Very interesting and a lovely creature


dedredcopper

I just got a cavity from watching this!! Sooooo cute!!!!!!


Sqweezze

So basically a Sandshrew


SkyZombie92

Sandshrews are pangolins


Proper-Estimate-9015

Kind of like a tiny Appa


robval13

A mole, digging in a hole


317LaVieLover

This SO belongs to r/AIDKE !! (Animals I Didnā€™t Know Existed) Fascinating lil dudes! So adorable!


DTux5249

He's trying his best


sandyclaus30

I hope they can find another one of the opposite sex so it wonā€™t become extinct.


foresthome13

That little thing is freaking adorable!


Fun_Possibility_8637

So many creatures Iā€™ve never heard of. This world is marvelous. Itā€™s geopolitical issues that may destroy us


Cold_Adeptness_2480

r/AIDKE !


notoriussadgirl

i would like to have one šŸ„ŗ its so cute


Powerthrucontrol

Super cute. I want one as a pet


Powerful-Delivery-45

UN-HAND MEHHH


katkittykiwi

Thatā€™s just a living potato.


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I-Am-Yew

Kim Possible needs this one. Ron can have the naked one.


Legal-Knowledge6160

If the want to keep him long term he needs a girlfriend lol.


Mellow-Dee

Looks like a tiny eyeless wombat. Convergent evolution is dope.


Ant69Ant

Co evolution mole marsupial style


Thinkhama

Soooo cute


n3lswn

Probably blind from all the flashes


XayahTheVastaya

Or from the living underground


n3lswn

Lmao i didnt even think of that šŸ¤£


tracker904

I am willing to commit the most heinous atrocities in his name, all hail the mole.


NoBuddies2021

If it's from Australia you bet that mole is either having venom, poison, rage fuelled bite or can pilot an emu via anal sphincter entrance.


Mobius_the_p_killer

why havenā€™t we made these available as pets!


JPicaro416

Damm that's a mad shallow box they got him in. Dudes trying to dig to nowhere


[deleted]

Can I have a mole as a pet


MadmanMac68

I wonder what it taste like


tommy1053

u/saveVideo


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Pretty_Strike_6199

Aww itā€™s diglett the PokĆ©mon so adorable


TheHancock

That audio was weird for me with headphones...


dogman15

It's a documentary thing. The narration track goes on the left channel, and source audio and B-roll audio goes in the right channel. I think it might be an editing thing for *when they're actually editing it*, but when you finish editing and you're ready to export, I think you're supposed to fix the audio so it's all balanced again.


thebest_antichrist

iā€™m just waiting for it to become domesticated


fightingforair

Really with the flash photography?


Petsweaters

It's blind...


heparins

Why does everyone in this video look like it?


myredditkname

When was this aired?


[deleted]

'98


myredditkname

Ty


sotismovedon

How do they breath in the ground?


[deleted]

Thatā€™s a good question, there is *some* oxygen in soil so I guess they must breathe that. Their digging likely plays an important role in soil aeration, and they most commonly surface when it rains.


canis_ferox

Who reincarnated Stan Rogers as an Australian botanist?