Selevinia betpakdalaensis Belosludov & Bazhanov 1938
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Gliridae
Selevinia
Selevinia betpakdalaensis

description: 22.
Desert Dormouse
Selevinia betpakdalaensis
French: Loir du désert / German: Salzkrautbilch / Spanish: Lirén de desierto
Taxonomy. Selevinia betpakdalaensis Belosludov & Bazhanov, 1938,
Kyzyl-Ui, Betpak-Dala Desert, southern Kazakhstan.
It was originally described as a new genus belonging to the family Muridae, based on dental formula and tooth morphology. Subsequently, V. S. Belosludov and B. A. Bazhanov realized that in many respects the new rodent resembled dormice, and Bazhanov and Belosludov in 1939 and 1941 created a new family, Seleviniidae, containing only the genus Selevinia. In 1947, S. 1. Ognev placed Selevinia in the same group as other dormice based on a suite of morphological characteristics—an arrangement independently arrived at by G. G. Simpson in 1945 andJ. R. Ellerman in 1949;all authors retained the genus in its own monotypic taxon at the subfamily or family level. Ognev further suggested that S. betpakdalaensis is most closely related to mouse-tailed like dormice (Myomimus). Phylogenetic analyses of morphological characteristics by J. H. Wahlert and colleagues in 1993, G. Storch in 1994, and E. G. Potapova in 2001 and analysis of incisor enamel microstructure by W. von Koenigswald in 1993 and 1994 supported Ognev’s view that Selevinia and Myomimus are related. Monotypic.
Distribution. C & E Kazakhstan, in deserts around Lake Balkhash (Dar’yalyktakyr Desert E to the Zaysan and Alakol basins). N distributional limit is uncertain, as records from Bayanaul, Pavlodar Region, require confirmation. Possibly occurs in adjacent areas of NW China.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 75-95 mm, tail 58-77 mm, ear 14-18 mm, hindfoot 16-17 mm; weight 19-21-4 g. No sexual dimorphism reported. Dorsal pelage of the Desert Dormouse is silky, soft, thick, and pale gray to tawny gray, with faint speckled appearance due to black tips of hairs. Ventral pelage is white or pale gray, sometimes washed with yellow. Ventral pelage is well demarcated from dorsal pelage. Cheeks, muzzle, and areas above and below eyes appear paler; there is no conspicuous eye mask. Hindfeet are white, ¢.19% of head-body length. Desert Dormice do not have well developed footpads, nor do they have the long, semi-opposable fifth toe characteristic of all other dormouse species. Tail is moderately long, ¢.82% of head-body length, and is bicolored, sparsely covered with brown or dark brown hairs above and paler beneath. Skull is easily distinguished by the short tooth row of only three molars, longitudinal groove running down front face of each upper incisor, and greatly inflated auditory bullae. Greatest length of skull is 21-5-22-1 mm, zygomatic breadth is 12 mm, and upper tooth row length is 1-5-1-6 mm. External and cranial measurements from the type series from Kyzyl-Ui, Betpak-Dala Desert, Kazakhstan. Karyotype is not known.
Habitat. Desert and semi-desert environments in the Central Asian Northern Desert in southern and south-eastern Kazakhstan. The Desert Dormouse has been captured on gravel, stone, clay, loam, or alkaline substrates, with dense or sparse vegetation. Plants commonly recorded at collecting localities include sagebrush and wormwood (Artemisia sp., Asteraceae); salsola (Salsola sp.), anabasis (Anabasis sp.,), and saxaul (Haloxylon sp-,), all Amaranthaceae; ephedra (Ephedra sp., Ephedraceae); tamarisk (7 Tamarix sp., Tamaricaceae); perennial saltworts such as anabasis (Anabasis sp.); and a variety of cereal, thistle, and grasses. Individuals have also been captured under roots of shrubs, sometimes when shrubs were uprooted for firewood.
Food and Feeding. The Desert Dormouse is omnivorous but predominantly insectivorous and carnivorous. Morphological adaptations such as reduction of dentition and small-sized molars with concave, simple chewing surfaces are consistent with invertebrate-focused diets. Function of robust, grooved incisors is not known. Desert Dormice are not known to excavate burrows beyond shallow depressions, so incisors may be adapted for catching and immobilizing prey or to bite tough vegetation. Stomach contents in the type series included undigested salsola plant (Salsola laricifolia), but in the wild and in captivity, Desert Dormice consumed mostly insects and other invertebrates. A captured young male refused all plant food offerings but consumed slain horseflies and otherflies that were offered. Captive Desert Dormice reportedly consumed moths, beetles, mealworms, woodlice, legs of tarantulas and other spiders, small lizards, and ground meat. This species will often eat small prey such as larvae and grasshoppers without killing them first. Soft parts of beetles and large insects such as locusts are also eaten, but firm exoskeleton and wings are left intact. Fecal pellets are said to be recognizable in the field because they are slightly oval in shape and crumble easily. Dry fecal pellets, combined with information from dietary intake and excretion analysis, suggest that they extract much of their daily water requirement from ingested food.
Breeding. Litter sizes of Desert Dormice are estimated to be 4-8 young. In the central Betpak-Dala Desert, a pregnant female was captured in mid-May carrying six embryos, and a lactating female was obtained in early June with seven placental scars. In the Zaysan Basin, a pregnant female was taken in mid-June carrying four embryos. One lactating female was captured in late May in the eastern Betpak-Dala, bearing eight placental scars. Young are born blind, withoutfur, and toothless but with well-developed whiskers.
Activity patterns. The Desert Dormouse is probably nocturnal and crepuscular. It has been captured during day and night and has most often been observed or collected during early morning hours or at twilight when locusts and grasshoppers are less active. Hibernation lasts ¢.5-5 months in October—March; timing of hibernation may be correlated with insect activity, especially that of grasshoppers and locusts. Desert Dormice were found under roots of tavolga plants (Rosaceae) in November. In winters with continuous snow cover in November—March, traces or evidence of Desert Dormice moving beneath the snow were not found.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Desert Dormice are solitary, terrestrial, and semi-arboreal. Abundanceis likely low throughout its distribution, based on field observations and capture data. In more than 65 years since it was first described, only ¢.40 individuals have been collected from 30 localities. Desert Dormice spend much of their time on the ground, but they readily climb small branches on shrubs while catching insects and other prey and will remain balanced on the branch while consuming their prey. They typically move about by walking or running, often in small hops or jumps, and can jump straight up 20-25 cm. When disturbed, they sat motionless without trying to escape or ran rapidly from shrub to shrub, sometimes covering a considerable distance. All collected individuals were captured with bare hands. Desert Dormice sometimes bite when trying to escape, but bites are reportedly painless, even when they sink their teeth into the skin. They seemed to thrive for a while in captivity; one individual lived more than a year in the Almaty Zoo, Kazakhstan. Cages were filled with ¢.30 cm of soil, and unspun cotton was also provided as nesting material. Captive individuals rarely dug into the soil but built small spherical nests, although during cold weather one individual dug a shallow hole 38 cm long and usedit to rest in during the day. They possibly use burrows excavated by other species as nesting sites or daily rest sites. Wild Desert Dormice likely nest among and under roots of shrubs and perhaps in small fissures or cracks in the soil or substrate.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. There are few records of the Desert Dormouse, and it is occurs sporadically over a large distribution of more than 100,000 km?. It was previously classified as Endangered in 1996. Population trend is unknown dueto its scarcity and because most localities have only yielded single individuals. The most serious threats to Desert Dormice include irrigated agriculture that accelerates erosion, sericulture (silk production) that requires irrigation of mulberry trees, overgrazing, and removal of woody shrubs for firewood. Predators include the pallid harrier (Circus macrourus), as evidenced by crop contents, and the long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus), based on stomach contents. Quite a few specimens were recorded in owl pellets, but the species of owl were not identified. Remains of Desert Dormice have occasionally been found in middens of Strelzow’s Mountain Vole (Alticola strelzovi) that collect birds-of-prey pellets in their nests. The Central Asian Desert and Xeric Shrublands ecoregion supports a high level of biodiversity and endemic species and was classified as vulnerable by the World Wildlife Fund in 2015. Unregulated road construction and expanding oil and mineral extraction industries pose serious risks to this fragile desert ecosystem. There are some protected areas within the ecoregion, although funding to support these areas has declined.
Bibliography. Bazhanov & Belosludov (1939, 1941), Belosludov & Bazhanov (1938), Ehrlich & Kashkarov (2005), Ellerman (1949), Gromov & Erbajeva (1995), von Koenigswald (1993, 1994), Ognev (1947), Potapova (2001), Rossolimo et al. (2001), Simpson (1945), Sludskiy et al. (1977), Storch (1994), Tsytsulina (2008), Wahlert et al. (1993), WWF (2015).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Gliridae, pp. 838-889 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 856-857, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6604339