High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Russian Desman (Desmana moschata) (Russian: выхухоль) 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. The Russian Desman often lives in small (usually non-kin related) groups of 2 to 5 animals and appears to have a complex (but largely unstudied) communication and social system.