Fastest eater in the mammal world

WHO: Star-nosed mole WHAT: 120 milliseconds WHERE: Tennessee, USA WHEN: February 2005

The fastest eater amongst mammals is the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata). Research published in February 2005 by Dr Kenneth Catania (USA) at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, USA, recorded an average ‘handling time’ of 230 milliseconds with the fastest time being 120 milliseconds. The star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is a little North American mole found in wet low areas of eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States, with records extending along the Atlantic coast as far as extreme southeastern Georgia.It is the only member of the tribe Condylurini and the genus Condylura. Star-nosed moles are easily identified by the eleven pairs of pink fleshy appendages ringing their snout which are used as a touch organ with more than 25,000 minute sensory receptors, known as Eimer’s organs, with which this hamster-sized mole feels its way around.