Mole (animal) in the context of "Shrew"

A mammal (from Latin mamma 'breast') is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (/məˈmeɪli.ə/). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles and birds, from which their ancestors diverged in the Carboniferous Period over 300 million years ago. Around 6,640 extant species of mammals have been described and divided into 27 orders. The study of mammals is called mammalogy.

The largest orders of mammals, by number of species, are the rodents, bats, and eulipotyphlans (including hedgehogs, moles and shrews). The next three are the primates (including humans, monkeys and lemurs), the even-toed ungulates (including pigs, bovids and whales), and the Carnivora (including cats, dogs, and seals).

Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil.Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil-litter interface.These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles (such as snakes), and species of burrowing mammals like gophers, moles and prairie dogs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics. The decomposition of organic matter by soil organisms has an immense influence on soil fertility, plant growth, soil structure, and carbon storage. As a relatively new science, much remains unknown about soil biology and its effect on soil ecosystems.

Eulipotyphla (/ˌjuːlɪpoʊˈtɪflə/, from eu- + Lipotyphla, meaning truly lacking blind gut; sometimes called true insectivores) is an order of mammals comprising the families Erinaceidae (hedgehogs and gymnures), Solenodontidae (solenodons), Talpidae (moles, shrew-like moles and desmans), and Soricidae (true shrews).

Mole (Spanish: [ˈmole]; from Nahuatl mōlli, pronounced [ˈmoːlːi]; lit. 'sauce') is a traditional sauce and marinade originally used in Mexican cuisine. In contemporary Mexico the term is used for a number of sauces, some quite dissimilar, including mole amarillo or amarillito (yellow mole), mole chichilo, mole colorado or coloradito (reddish mole), mole manchamantel or manchamanteles (tablecloth stainer), mole negro (black mole), mole rojo (red mole), mole verde (green mole), mole poblano, mole almendrado (mole with almond), mole michoacano, mole prieto, mole ranchero, mole tamaulipeco, mole xiqueno, pipián (mole with squash seed), mole rosa (pink mole), mole blanco (white mole), mole estofado, tezmole, clemole, mole de olla, chimole, guacamole (mole with avocado) and huaxmole (mole with huaje).

The spelling molé, often seen on English-language menus, is a hyperforeignism and not used in Spanish, but likely intended to distinguish the sauce from the English word for the animal mole.