Talpa davidiana subsp. davidiana
Creators: name: Gündüz, İslam
name: Demirtaş, Sadık
name: Silsüpür, Metin
name: Özmen, Medine
name: Polly, P. David
name: Bilton, David T.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Soricomorpha
Talpidae
Talpa
Talpa davidiana
Talpa davidiana davidiana (milne-Edwards, 1884)

description: Talpa davidiana davidiana (Milne-Edwards, 1884)
Scaptochirus davidianus Milne-Edwards, 1884
Type locality: Listed as ‘aux environs d’Akbès, sur les confins de la Syrie et de l’Asie Mineure’—environs of Akbes at the border between Syria and Asia Minor—by Milne-Edwards (1884). Most probably present-day Akbez, in Hatay Province, Turkey, close to the Syrian border. This seems more likely than Meidan Ekbis (ossen listed as Meydanakbes or Meydan Akbes) in adjacent Syria [as suggested by Kryštufek et al. (2001)], as the Turkish locality is surrounded by mountains and mesic habitats suitable for moles, rather than (semi-) desert. In any event, the two localities are geographically very close, separated by approximately 7 km. The holotype is deposited in the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, comprising a stuffed skin and dry preserved skull and mandibles.
Material examined (Turkey; specimen numbers in parenthesis): Two specimens, almost topotypical to Milne-Edwards’ material: one female (1565), Hatay Province, Hassa, Çardak yaylası, 36°50ʹN, 36°26ʹE, 1457 m (Figs 1, 5C; Table 1); one male (1564), Gaziantep Province, İslahiye, Karagöz yaylası, 36°58ʹN, 36°27ʹE, 1442 m. Nine additional specimens, with Cytb sequences clustering closely with the above, as follows: one male (1566), Kahramanmaraş Province, Andırın, 37°35ʹN, 36°21ʹE, 1104 m; one male (1450), one female (1449), Osmaniye Province, Sumbas, Esenli, Afşar mevki, 37°37ʹN, 36°05ʹE, 870 m; one male (1483), one female (1482), Osmaniye Province, Sumbas, Esenli, 37°37ʹN, 36°05ʹE, 870 m; one female (1484), Osmaniye Province, Kadirli, Uzunyazı yaylası, 37°42ʹN, 36°12ʹE, 1300 m; two females (1485 and 1486), Osmaniye Province, Sumbas, Yirce yaylası, 37°40ʹN, 36°08ʹE, 1710 m; one male (1448), Osmaniye Province, Sumbas, Bağdaş yaylası, 37°40ʹN, 36°10ʹE, 1255 m. Specimens 1482 and 1483, external measurements only, lost to a farm dog; all seven remaining with stuffed skins preserved dry, bodies frozen at –50˚C, internal organs in ethanol, skulls extracted and labelled with specimen numbers.
Diagnosis
Medium-sized mole; skull relatively large with a stout, broad, rostrum. A member of the subgenus Talpa, closest to T. davidiana tatvanensis ssp. nov., morphologically and genetically (Figs 2, 3, 6). For morphological characters distinguishing the two subspecies, see T. davidiana tatvanensis ssp. nov. below. For characters separating it from T. hakkariensis sp. nov., see under that species. Differs from T. streetorum in its smaller size, narrower rostrum, and more posteriorly positioned braincase. The net and raw Cytb K2P distances of 1.52% and 2.19%, respectively, between T. davidiana davidiana and T. davidiana tatvanensis ssp. nov. are relatively low, leading us to consider these taxa as geographically isolated subspecies, rather than species.
Redescription
A medium-sized mole (Figs 5D, 6B), body mass 34.12–52.87 g and head and body length 128–145 mm in specimens examined. With a relatively short tail; 11.27–13.24% of head and body length (Supporting Information, Table S3). Tail (Fig.12E) parallel-sided, with sparse, stiff, sub-erect, overlapping bristles; individual bristles mostly blackish or with black cores, c. 20–25% greyish brown, translucent; bristles considerably variable in length, giving a bushy appearance; tail tip tapering and rounded, visible when bristles are moved. Overall appearance of tail similar colour to body. Dorsal and ventral pelage greyish brown throughout, with noticeable silvery sheen, particularly laterally and ventrally; individual hairs typically brownish at tips, greyish below. Body elongated. Palm of manus (Fig. 12B) broad, relatively flat; claws at ends of all five phalanges, flattened dorsoventrally, with convex upper and slightly concave lower margins, flattened oval in cross-section. Feet (Fig. 12E) approx. equal to tail length. Muzzle (Figs 5D, 6B) elongated, with hairs, including longer sensory bristles, much paler than on head. Snout pinkish with close, fine, small pale hairs.
Skull (Fig. 8) moderate, with a relatively stout, broad rostrum. Width across canines 13.56–14.71%, and width across molars 28.12–29.54% condylobasal length. Maxillary tooth row equals 40.66–42.97% of the condylobasal length. The braincase is broad and deep, flattened above; height of neurocranium 28.50– 30.79% of condylobasal length. The posterior margin of palatine is usually slightly posterior to the imaginary line connecting the posterior alveolar margins of 3rd upper molars, and the anterior border of the infraorbital foramen is above the 2nd upper molar.
Upper incisors of decreasing size; 3rd incisor slightly less than half the size of the 1st. Usually with three, rarely four, upper premolars. Third upper premolar largest; 1st intermediate and 2nd smallest (Fig. 8). Upper molars robust, decreasing in size 1–3. First upper molar with well-developed parastyle (Fig. 11B), smaller in specimens with substantial tooth wear; protocone much larger than paracone; mesostyle relatively flattened at apex, slightly bifurcated. Second upper molar with well-developed parastyle; protocone larger than paracone; mesostyle well developed and clearly bilobed at apex. Third upper molar with well-developed parastyle, slightly more prominent than mesostyle; mesostyle bilobed at apex; protocone larger than paracone. Mandible Fig. 13B. Lower incisors 1, 2, and 4 subequal; 3 smaller. First lower premolar large, with prominent distal cusp; 3rd lower premolar subequal to 1st; 2nd lower premolar much smaller. First and 2nd lower molars large; 3rd smaller; all with prominent parastyles.
Distribution and ecology
Known with certainty only from localities in Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, and Osmaniye Provinces, in the extreme southeast of Turkey. Rather than being found in the Syrian Desert, the type material was also probably collected in Hatay Province (see above). Records from Bitlis (Kryštufek et al. 2001, Bannikova et al. 2015) and Hakkari (Kryštufek et al. 2001) Provinces likely refer to T. davidiana tatvanensis ssp. nov. and T. hakkariensis sp. nov., respectively. Moles were trapped in agricultural areas, including an orchard, village grazing lands, and small residual marshes.
Comment
Whilst we did not directly examine the type specimen, our Hatay and Gaziantep animals were collected within a maximum of 10 and 17 km of Milne-Edwards’ type locality, respectively, on the same side of the Amanos Mountains and are, therefore, effectively topotypical. Their crania and mandibles closely resemble high-resolution digital photos of the holotype available online at https://science.mnhn.fr/ taxon/species/talpa/davidiana#milne-edwards%2C_1884; albeit that specimen exhibiting substantial tooth wear. Ours are the first specimens of T. davidiana davidiana to be DNA sequenced.
description: Published as part of Gündüz, İslam, Demirtaş, Sadık, Silsüpür, Metin, Özmen, Medine, Polly, P. David & Bilton, David T., 2023, Notes from the Anatolian underground: two new mole taxa from Eastern Turkey, together with a revised phylogeny of the genus Talpa (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla: Talpidae), pp. 567-593 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 199 (3) on pages 579-584, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad049, http://zenodo.org/record/10469936