Nannospalax leucodon Nordmann 1840
Creators: name: Musser, Guy G.
name: Carleton, Michael D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 1993
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Muridae
Nannospalax
Nannospalax leucodon

description: <i>Nannospalax leucodon</i> Nordmann, 1840. Demidoff Voy., 3:34. TYPE LOCALITY: Ukraine, near Odessa. DISTRIBUTION: From Yugoslavia through Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Greece, and extreme NW Turkey, to SW Ukraine just east of Dnestr River in Odessa region (see Vorontsov, 1977b; Savie, 1982b). SYNONYMS: <i>ceylanus, epiroticus, hellenicus, hercegovinensis, hungaricus, insularis, makedonicus, martinoi, montanoserbicus, montanosyrmiensis, monticola, ovchepolensis, peloponnesiacus, serbicus, strumiciensis, syrmiensis, thermaicus, thessalicus, thracius, transsylvanicus, turcicus, vasvdrii.</i> COMMENTS: This species was morphologically characterized by Topachevskii (1969) and is now viewed as a superspecies based on chromosomal studies (Giagia et al., 1982; Peshev, 1983; Savie, 1982b; Savie and Nevo, 1990; Savie and Soldatovic, 1977, 1979). Savie (1982b) delineated six clusters that he interpreted as chromosomal species: <i>leucodon</i> group (with <i>hungaricus, montanosyrmiensis, monticola,</i> and <i>transsylvanicus), makedonicus</i> group, <i>strumiciensis</i> group (with <i>ovchepolensis</i> and <i>serbicus), epiroticus</i> (with <i>hellenicus), turcicus</i> group (with <i>thracius),</i> and <i>montanoserbicus</i> group (with <i>hercegovinensis</i> and <i>syrmiensis).</i> Mikes et al. (1982) analysed the pelvis of <i>N. leucodon</i> in the context of assessing sexual dimorphism and taxonomic differences. Morphological and biometric analyses by Kivanc (1988) indicated that <i>N. leucodon</i> occurs in most of Turkey (subspecies <i>anatolicus, armeniacus, cilicicus, nehringi,</i> and <i>turcicus)</i> and that <i>N. ehrenbergi</i> extends up into SW Turkey (subspecies <i>intermedius</i> and <i>kirgisorum).</i> However, Savie and Nevo (1990) viewed these results skeptically and urged elucidation by chromosomal evidence. Available biochemical and chromosomal data clearly do not support the conspecificity of <i>leucodon</i> and <i>nehringi</i> (Vorontsov et al., 1977b, and references therein).
description: Published as part of <i>Guy G. Musser &amp; Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, pp. 501-755 in Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London :Smithsonian Institution Press</i> on pages 753-754, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7353098
description: {"references": ["Vorontsov, N. N., L. Ya. Martynova, and I. I. Fomichova. 1977 b. [An electrophoretic comparison of the blood proteins in mole rats of the fauna of the USSR (Spalacinae, Rodentia).] Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 56: 1207 - 1215 (in Russian).", "Topachevskii, V. A. 1969. Fauna SSSR, Mlekopitayushchie, Tom 3, vyp. 3. Slepyshovye (Spalacidae) [Fauna of the USSR: Mammals. Mole rats, Spalacidae]. Nauka Publishers, Leningrad Section, Leningrad, 248 pp.", "Giagia, E. B., I. Savic, and B. Soldatovic. 1982. Chromosomal forms of the mole rat Microspalax from Greece and Turkey. Zeitschrift fur Saugetierkunde, 47: 231 - 236.", "Peshev, D. 1983. New karyotype forms of the mole rat, Nannospalax leucodon Nordmann (Spalacidae, Rodentia), in Bulgaria. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 211: 65 - 72.", "Mikes, M., I. Savic, and V. Habijan. 1982. Osteometrische eigenschaften des beckengurtels (cingulum extremitatis pelvinae) der art Spalax leucodon Nordmann, 1840. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 208: 417 - 427.", "Kivanc, E. 1988. [Geographic variations of Turkish Spalax species (Spalacidae, Rodentia, Mammalia).] Biological Faculty, Ankara University, 88 pp. (in Turkish)."]}