The forefeet are wider than they are long, and permanently turned outward, with heavy straight claws. The hand is larger than in the other European and Asiatic moles. There is no external ear, and the long snout and the tail are scantily haired. The feet are almost naked and flesh-colored. The eyes are minute, completely hidden in the fur, and probably useless except to distinguish between light and darkness.
Moles are strong and highly specialized in structure, particularly in the forepart of the body.
They run backward almost as freely as forward and can turn about easily in the narrow burrows. The peculiar fur will lie in any direction in which it is brushed and is of very beautiful, soft texture. Old World moles spend practically all their time in tunnels both close to the surface of the ground and to depths of nearly a meter. The burrows usually have two circular tunnels concentric at different levels with connections between them, a central nest, and lateral tunnels into adjacent areas. These burrows are planned more systematically than those of the American mole.