Like chrysochlorids and epoicotheres, notoryctids use their forelimbs and enlarged central claws to dig in a parasagittal plane, as opposed to the "lateral scratch" style of digging that characterizes talpid moles. Marsupial moles spend most of their time underground, coming to the surface only occasionally, probably mostly after rains. They are blind, their eyes having become reduced to vestigial lenses under the skin which lack a pupil. Therefore they are functionally blind. They have no external ears, just a pair of tiny holes hidden under thick hair. The head is cone-shaped, with a leathery shield over the muzzle, the body is tubular, and the tail is a short, bald stub encased in leathery skin. They are between long, weigh, and are uniformly covered in fairly short, very fine pale cream to white hair with an iridescent golden sheen. Their pouch is small but well developed and has evolved to face backwards so it does not fill with sand. It contains just two teats, so the animal cannot bear more than two young at a time. The limbs are very short, with reduced digits. The forefeet have two greatly enlarged, spade shaped, flat claws on the third and fourth digits, which are used to excavate soil in front of the animal. The hindfeet are flattened, and bear three small claws; these feet are used to push soil behind the animal as it digs. Epipubic bones are present but small and as in some other fossorial mammals, the last five cervical vertebrae are fused to give the head greater rigidity during digging. The animal swims through the soil and doesn't leave behind any permanent burrow. The teeth of the marsupial moles are degenerate and bear no resemblance to polyprotodont or diprotodont teeth. Their dental formula varies, but is usually somewhere near . The upper molars are zalambodont, and the lower molars appear to have lost their talonid basins. The molar teeth of Notoryctes are triangular, or "zalambdodont", i.e., resembling an inverted Greek letter "lambda" in occlusal view.
Fossil record
Notoryctids are represented by early Miocene fossils of Naraboryctes from site of Riversleigh in Queensland, Australia, which document the mosaic acquisition of dental and skeletal features of the living Notoryctes from a more terrestrial ancestor. The notoryctid fossil record demonstrates that the primary cusp of the molars is the metacone, distinct from the paracone characteristic of zalambdodont tenrecs, golden moles, and Solenodon. Regarding the number of teeth in each dental quadrant reported that "the dental formula for species of Notoryctes is controversial because of considerable polymorphism in tooth number, both between specimens and within the same specimen." Nonetheless, reflecting the consensus of older studies, report the presence of four molars in each quadrant both in livingNotoryctes and the fossil notoryctid Naraboryctes.
American paleontologist William King Gregory that "Notoryctes is a true marsupial" and this view has been repeatedly verified by phylogenetic analyses of comparative anatomy, mitochondrial DNA, nuclear DNA, rare genomic events, and combined datasets of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA and morphology and DNA. The largest phylogenetic datasets strongly support the placement of Notoryctes as the sister taxon to a dasyuromorph-peramelian clade, within the Australidelphian radiation.
