Meriones Illiger 1811
Creators: name: Wilson, Don E.
name: Reeder, DeeAnn
Publisher: name: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Muridae
Meriones

description: Meriones Illiger 1811
Meriones Illiger 1811, Prodr. Syst. Mamm. Avium: 82.
Type Species: Mus tamariscinus Pallas 1773
Synonyms: Idomeneus Schultze 1900; Meraeus Billberg 1828.
Species and subspecies: 17 species in 4 subgenera:
Subgenus Meriones (Meriones) Illiger 1811
Subgenus Meriones (Pallasiomys) Heptner 1933
Subgenus Meriones (Cheliones) Thomas 1919
Subgenus Meriones (Parameriones) Heptner 1937
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) arimalius Cheesman and Hinton 1924
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) chengi Wang 1964
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) crassus Sundevall 1842
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) dahli Shidlovsky 1962
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) grandis Cabrera 1907
Species Meriones (Cheliones) hurrianae Jordon 1867
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) libycus Lichtenstein 1823
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) meridianus (Pallas 1773)
Species Meriones (Parameriones) persicus Blanford 1875
Species Meriones (Parameriones) rex Yerbury and Thomas 1895
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) sacramenti Thomas 1922
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) shawi Duvernoy 1842
Species Meriones (Meriones) tamariscinus (Pallas 1773)
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) tristrami Thomas 1892
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) unguiculatus Milne-Edwards 1867
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) vinogradovi Heptner 1931
Species Meriones (Pallasiomys) zarudnyi Heptner 1937
Discussion: Tribe Gerbillini, Subtribe Rhombomyina. No modern systematic revision is available for Meriones. The early revision by Chaworth-Musters and Ellerman (1947), as updated and modified by Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951), Corbet (1978 c), and Pavlinov et al. (1990), represents the most current review of species. Additional taxonomic, distributional, and evolutionary views are found in the taxonomic reports and regional faunal studies cited throughout the accounts below. Most workers agree on definitions of the species we list here, but careful systematic revision will probably uncover a greater number of species. Chromosomal data concerning Meriones was summarized by Nadler and Lay (1967) in the context of assessing relationships among the species and subsequent chromosomal information was summarized by Qumsiyeh and Schlitter (1991). Additional chromosomal data and its significance to understanding phylogenetic relationships among six species of Meriones reported by Benazzou et al. (1982 a, b). Lay and Nadler (1969) summarized laboratory hybridization attempts among several species of Meriones. Records of species from Iran and Pakistan reported by Lay et al. (1970). Yi it et al. (1997 b) reviewed ranges, diagnostic traits, and other characteristics of Turkish species. Comparisons of male genital morphology by Pavlinov (1986) pointed to the phylogenetic isolation of M. tamariscinus among the species of Meriones. Gromov and Erbajeva (1995) documented morphological and distributional contrasts among species of Meriones in Russia and Sokolov and Neronov (1993) provided a three-volume bibliography covering research dealing with Meriones that includes distribution maps for species in that country.
Pavlinov et al. (1990) recognized four subgenera in Meriones (Meriones, Parameriones, Pallasiomys, and Cheliones), and our subgeneric allocation of species generally follows their treatment. Evolutionary history as indicated by fossils first encountered in late Pliocene-early Pleistocene sediments of North Africa (Tong, 1998; Wessels, 1999), Holocene of East Africa (Denys, 1999), early Pleistocene of Israel (Tchernov, 1986, discussed under Parameriones), and middle Pleistocene strata in China (Lucas, 2001). Meriones is thought to have evolved from the extinct Pseudomeriones, the earliest known gerbilline, recorded from the early part of late Miocene in Turkey and Afghanistan, and later in late Miocene and Pliocene in those two countries and Spain, Greece, N Iran / Turkmenistan, and China (Wessels, 1998).
description: Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, pp. 1189-1531 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 1234, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316535