Broad-footed Mole vs Comandra Blister Rust

Scapanus latimanus compared with Cronartium comandrae

Key Differences

Broad-footed Mole is Least Concern while Comandra Blister Rust is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Broad-footed Mole	Comandra Blister Rust
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Pucciniomycetes (Pucciniomycetes)
Order	Soricomorpha (Soricomorpha)	Pucciniales (Pucciniales)
Family	Talpidae	Cronartiaceae
Genus	Scapanus	Cronartium
Species	Scapanus latimanus	Cronartium comandrae

Conservation Status

Broad-footed Mole

LC — Least Concern

Comandra Blister Rust

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Broad-footed Mole	Comandra Blister Rust
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Broad-footed Mole

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Comandra Blister Rust

Habitat

Native to Europe and North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Norway and United States.

Broad-footed Mole

The Broad-footed Mole (Scapanus latimanus) is a species in the genus Scapanus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Comandra Blister Rust

<em>Cronartium comandrae</em>, known as comandra blister rust, is a parasitic fungal pathogen in the family Cronartiaceae that alternates between two unrelated host plants to complete its life cycle. The fungus infects coniferous trees, particularly pine species, during one phase of its development, causing characteristic blister-like galls on branches and stems that can girdle and kill infected tissues. The alternate host is typically comandra (<em>Comandra umbellata</em>), a parasitic flowering plant. On pine hosts, the rust forms orange or yellow spore masses during the aecial stage, releasing spores that infect comandra plants, where urediniospores and teliospores are subsequently produced. The species is distributed wherever its dual hosts co-occur across North America and parts of Eurasia. It can cause economically significant damage to pine plantations and natural forest stands. No quantitative biological metrics are recorded for this species.