tunnels that have been abandoned. Skull and dentition It has a long and narrow rostrum, which is the projection that forms the snout. The junction between the skull bones turns into bone early on in their age, which makes it difficult to identify their age based on looking at their skull bones. The maxillary only turns into bone in the adults and the roots of the upper molars are exposed in immature shrew-moles. The first upper incisor is flat and it does not have an elongated crown, like shrew do. It has 36 teeth, which consist of incisors, canines, pre-molars, and molars. Diet and digestion This mole is often active above ground, foraging in leaf litter for earthworms, insects, snails and slugs. It is also known to eat some vegetation such as mycorrhizal fungi and even salamanders, but earthworms are the most important food item in its diet. Its diet also depends on the type of available food sources, so it may eat more vegetation than anything else if there are no insects or other arthropods within its vicinity. It is able to climb bushes to forage for food, although that is not its main eating resource. Like all shrew-moles, the stomach size of this shrew mole in inversely proportional to its body weight. Their intestinal tract is quite short and digestion occurs rapidly. Predators Predators include owls, hawks and mustelids such as weasels, fishers, and pine martins. Additional predators include red and gray foxes, raccoons, and skunks. Dogs and cats can kill them as well, but do not eat them. Venomous and non-venomous snakes, bullfrogs, and opossums have also been reported to hunt them. The most common ectoparasites found on these shrew moles are fleas and mites. The endoparasites found in shrew-moles consist of twenty species of coccidian protozoans, at least five species of nematode, two species of trematode, and two species of acanthocephalan. Physiology When underground shrew-moles can suffer from a low levels of oxygen, high levels of carbon dioxide, and high levels of humidity. In order to cope with these conditions, shrew-moles contain lungs that can hold large volumes and sometimes even more than 20% of their body weight. They also experience stages of sleep that are similar to humans such as rapid eye movement sleep. It is believed that the reason why they experience stages of deep sleep is because they are subject to less danger