Golden moles (Chrysochloridae) are fossorial mammals known to have unu
sual mallei. The aim of this study was to describe and quantify aspect
s of the auditory morphology of golden moles in order to determine the
ir systematic and functional implications. Observations were made on s
keletal material as well as histological sections. The results of this
study do not support the separation of the genus Calcochloris from Am
blysomus. It was found that the morphology shared by all the studied g
enera is indicative of specialization for hearing low frequency sound.
The tympanic membrane to stapes footplate ratios, ossicular lever arm
ratios and incudomallear joint morphology suggest low frequency speci
alizations in genera with small mallear heads and high frequency speci
alizations in genera with large mallear heads. However, the size and d
egree of trabeculation of the tympanic cavity are not consistent with
this result. It is proposed that all golden moles are low frequency he
arers with differences in their range of sensitivity according to how
much time they spend foraging above ground.