If anyone else wonders:

• Talpa is an actual genus of moles: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talpa_(mammal)
• defossus is latin and according to Wiktionary it means “excavated, planted or hidden”: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/defossus (fossus coming from Latin fodiō meaning “to dig; to pierce; to goad”, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fossus)