The desmans or tribe Desmanini are one of several tribes of the mole

Mole (animal)

Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...

 family Talpidae

Talpidae

The family Talpidae includes the moles, shrew moles, desmans, and other intermediate forms of small insectivorous mammals of the order Soricomorpha...

.

This tribe consists of two species of semiaquatic insectivore

Insectivore

An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....

s found in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

; one in Russia and the other in the Pyrenees

Pyrenees

The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...

. Both species are considered to be vulnerable. They have webbed paws and their front paws are not designed for digging.

The list of species is:

• Genus Desmana
  • Russian Desman
    Russian Desman
    The Russian Desman is a small semi-aquatic mammal that inhabits the Volga, Don and Ural River basins in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. It constructs burrows into the banks of ponds and slow-moving streams, but prefers small, overgrown ponds with abundance of insects, crayfish and amphibians...
    
     (D. moschata)
• Genus Galemys
  • Pyrenean Desman
    Pyrenean Desman
    The Pyrenean Desman is a small semi-aquatic mammal that lives in the Pyrenees to the Iberian peninsula. The Pyrenean Desman is in the monotypic genus Galemys. The Pyrenean Desman lives in mountain streams....
    
     (G. pyrenaicus)

In popular culture

One of the main characters in Noah's Island

Noah's Island

Noah's Island was an animated TV serial made by the creators of The Animals of Farthing Wood and commissioned by the European Broadcasting Union. It was directed by Philippe Leclerc and Alan Simpson and written by Elphin Lloyd-Jones and John M. Mills. Each episode, of which there were 39, ran for...

, Sasha, is a friendly but simple-minded desman known for the catchphrase "Hoisky Poisky".