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Spalax
''Spalax'' is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae, subfamily ''Spalacinae'' (blind mole-rats). It is one of two extant genera in the subfamily Spalacinae, alongside ''Nannospalax''.'''' Species in this genus are found in eastern Europe and western & central Asia. They are completely blind and have a subterranean lifestyle. Taxonomy Prior to 2013, ''Spalax'' was widely considered the only member of Spalacinae, with all blind mole-rat species being grouped within it. However, phylogenetic and morphological evidence supported some of the species within it forming a distinct lineage that diverged from the others during the Late Miocene, when a marine barrier formed between Anatolia and the Balkans. These species were reclassified into the genus ''Nannospalax'', making ''Spalax'' one of two extant spalacine genera.'''' Species of genus ''Spalax'' *Mehely's blind mole-rat'', S. antiquus'' * Sandy blind mole-rat, ''S. arenarius'' * Giant blind mole-rat, ''S. giganteus'' *B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spalax
''Spalax'' is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae, subfamily ''Spalacinae'' (blind mole-rats). It is one of two extant genera in the subfamily Spalacinae, alongside ''Nannospalax''.'''' Species in this genus are found in eastern Europe and western & central Asia. They are completely blind and have a subterranean lifestyle. Taxonomy Prior to 2013, ''Spalax'' was widely considered the only member of Spalacinae, with all blind mole-rat species being grouped within it. However, phylogenetic and morphological evidence supported some of the species within it forming a distinct lineage that diverged from the others during the Late Miocene, when a marine barrier formed between Anatolia and the Balkans. These species were reclassified into the genus ''Nannospalax'', making ''Spalax'' one of two extant spalacine genera.'''' Species of genus ''Spalax'' *Mehely's blind mole-rat'', S. antiquus'' * Sandy blind mole-rat, ''S. arenarius'' * Giant blind mole-rat, ''S. giganteus'' *B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Blind Mole-rat
The greater blind mole-rat (''Spalax microphthalmus'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is found in Russia and Ukraine. Description The greater blind mole-rat is tailless. The eyes are covered by a membrane of skin and have atrophied lens cells enclosed in a vesicle and a retinal layer. It has prominent incisor teeth, which are used for burrowing. The fur is greyish, but can vary in color. It can grow to a size of and weigh up to . Its dental formula is Distribution and habitat The greater blind mole-rat is known from the steppes of Ukraine and from southern Russia between the Dnieper and the Volga rivers. Its range extends northwards to the Oryol to Kursk railway line and southwards to the North Caucasus. It favours lowland habitats with black earth, avoiding sandy or loamy soils. It inhabits steppes and forest steppes, agricultural land, plantations, orchards and gardens and can be a pest. Behavior The greater blind mole-rat is a fossorial species that s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spalax Microphthalmus
The greater blind mole-rat (''Spalax microphthalmus'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is found in Russia and Ukraine. Description The greater blind mole-rat is tailless. The eyes are covered by a membrane of skin and have atrophied lens cells enclosed in a vesicle and a retinal layer. It has prominent incisor teeth, which are used for burrowing. The fur is greyish, but can vary in color. It can grow to a size of and weigh up to . Its dental formula is Distribution and habitat The greater blind mole-rat is known from the steppes of Ukraine and from southern Russia between the Dnieper and the Volga rivers. Its range extends northwards to the Oryol to Kursk railway line and southwards to the North Caucasus. It favours lowland habitats with black earth, avoiding sandy or loamy soils. It inhabits steppes and forest steppes, agricultural land, plantations, orchards and gardens and can be a pest. Behavior The greater blind mole-rat is a fossorial species that s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mehely's Blind Mole-rat
Mehely's blind mole-rat (''Spalax antiquus'') is an endangered species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Romania. Taxonomy Previously described in 1909 by Lajos Méhelÿ as a subspecies of the Balkan mole-rat (''S. graecus''), a 2013 morphological and phylogenetic analysis found it and the Oltenia blind mole-rat (''S. istricus'') to be distinct, well-defined species. It is thought to be the sister species to ''S. graecus'', and it is thought that the Carpathian Orogeny led to the separation of both species. The American Society of Mammalogists and IUCN Red List follow the results of this study. Distribution and habitat This species is restricted to central Romania, where it is thought to be an endemic species of the Carpathian Basin. It inhabits steppe and forest-steppe grasslands on the Transylvanian Plain. Its habitats are largely used as pastureland, although it avoids overgrazed pastures. Status This species has suffered a heavy decline in recen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Podolsk Blind Mole-rat
The Podolsk blind mole-rat or Podolian mole-rat (''Spalax zemni'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to western and central Ukraine. Distribution and habitat It has a wide but severely fragmented range throughout Ukraine, ranging from the near the border with Poland south to near the border with Moldova, and east to central Ukraine. It primarily inhabits undeveloped steppe habitat, but also side roads, forest belts, agricultural fields, and even former military firing ranges. Status This species has a highly fragmented population, and the relatively wide range that this species is thought to have throughout Ukraine may be an overestimate for this reason. Data suggests that it has been declining since historical times due to shrinking of the steppe habitat, and it has been considered a rare species since the end of the 19th century. It is thought to be threatened by habitat loss due to cultivation and development, and is classified as Vulnerable o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spalax Antiquus
Mehely's blind mole-rat (''Spalax antiquus'') is an endangered species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Romania. Taxonomy Previously described in 1909 by Lajos Méhelÿ as a subspecies of the Balkan mole-rat (''S. graecus''), a 2013 morphological and phylogenetic analysis found it and the Oltenia blind mole-rat (''S. istricus'') to be distinct, well-defined species. It is thought to be the sister species to ''S. graecus'', and it is thought that the Carpathian Orogeny led to the separation of both species. The American Society of Mammalogists and IUCN Red List follow the results of this study. Distribution and habitat This species is restricted to central Romania, where it is thought to be an endemic species of the Carpathian Basin. It inhabits steppe and forest-steppe grasslands on the Transylvanian Plain. Its habitats are largely used as pastureland, although it avoids overgrazed pastures. Status This species has suffered a heavy decline in recent d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spalax Arenarius
The sandy blind mole-rat (''Spalax arenarius'') is an endangered species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Ukraine. It was first identified by Evdokia Reshetnik in 1939. Distribution and habitat It is restricted to a very small region of southern Ukraine, on sandy habitats along the lower Dnieper River on the Black Sea coastal plain. It inhabits moderately wet, sandy soils with low subterranean waters, in steppes dominated by absinth-grass or absinth-spurge, with sparse vegetation otherwise. It does not inhabit dry feathergrass steppe or moving sands. Status Only about 15,000 to 20,000 mature individuals are thought to exist. The primary segment of the population inhabits the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve, and is thought to have a stable population trend. However, populations outside of this protected area are thought to be declining. The primary threat to this species is habitat conversion by the afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spalax Giganteus
The giant blind mole-rat (''Spalax giganteus'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae endemic to the North Caucasus region of Russia. It feeds on roots and tubers and lives underground in a burrow that it digs with its teeth. Distribution and habitat The giant blind mole-rat is native to the North Caucasus, Chechnya, and southern Kalmykia located between the northern ends of the Caspian and Black Seas. It is restricted to a range of less than , and its distribution within that area is quite patchy. It lives underground in burrows in damp, sandy soils in semidesert areas, in river valleys, on plains, in shrubby or reedy areas, and in disturbed and cultivated soils. Behaviour The giant blind mole-rat is active all year round. It lives a largely subterranean existence in the burrow that it digs and is believed to be monogamous. Breeding activities usually occur in December and January and females produce litters of two or three young. Besides using its incisor teeth for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spalax Graecus
The Bukovina blind mole-rat or (erroneously) the Balkan blind mole-rat (''Spalax graecus'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae found in Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine. Taxonomy The specific epithet ''graecus'', as well as the reference to the Balkans in its former scientific name, both derive from the type specimen, which was initially thought to have been collected in the vicinity of Athens, Greece. However, in 1969 this was found to be erroneous, and the type locality was corrected to the vicinity of Chernovtsy, Ukraine. Formerly, this species was thought to comprise three disjunct subspecies: the type subspecies ''graecus'', inhabiting northern Romania, Moldova, and southwestern Ukraine, Mehely's blind mole-rat (subspecies ''antiquus''), thought to be endemic to central Romania, and the possibly extinct Oltenia blind mole-rat (subspecies ''istricus''), thought to be endemic to southern Romania. However, a 2013 morphological and phylogenetic analysis found '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spalax Istricus
The Oltenia blind mole-rat (''Spalax istricus'') is a critically endangered, possibly extinct species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Romania. Taxonomy Previously described in 1909 by Lajos Méhelÿ as a subspecies of the Balkan mole-rat (''S. graecus''), a 2013 morphological and phylogenetic analysis found it to be a distinct, well-defined species. Its closest taxonomic relations remain unclear due to a lack of genetic material from available specimens. The American Society of Mammalogists and IUCN Red List follow the results of this study. Distribution and habitat This species is restricted to southern Romania, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia. It inhabits hilly and flat terrain of the Wallachian Plain, covered by steppe or forest-steppe vegetation. It likely inhabits similar habitats to Mehely's blind mole-rat (''S. antiquus''). Status This species is classified as critically endangered or possibly extinct on the IUCN Red List ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spalax Zemni
The Podolsk blind mole-rat or Podolian mole-rat (''Spalax zemni'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to western and central Ukraine. Distribution and habitat It has a wide but severely fragmented range throughout Ukraine, ranging from the near the border with Poland south to near the border with Moldova, and east to central Ukraine. It primarily inhabits undeveloped steppe habitat, but also side roads, forest belts, agricultural fields, and even former military firing ranges. Status This species has a highly fragmented population, and the relatively wide range that this species is thought to have throughout Ukraine may be an overestimate for this reason. Data suggests that it has been declining since historical times due to shrinking of the steppe habitat, and it has been considered a rare species since the end of the 19th century. It is thought to be threatened by habitat loss due to cultivation and development, and is classified as Vulnerable o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oltenia Blind Mole-rat
The Oltenia blind mole-rat (''Spalax istricus'') is a critically endangered, possibly extinct species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Romania. Taxonomy Previously described in 1909 by Lajos Méhelÿ as a subspecies of the Balkan mole-rat (''S. graecus''), a 2013 morphological and phylogenetic analysis found it to be a distinct, well-defined species. Its closest taxonomic relations remain unclear due to a lack of genetic material from available specimens. The American Society of Mammalogists and IUCN Red List follow the results of this study. Distribution and habitat This species is restricted to southern Romania, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia. It inhabits hilly and flat terrain of the Wallachian Plain, covered by steppe or forest-steppe vegetation. It likely inhabits similar habitats to Mehely's blind mole-rat (''S. antiquus''). Status This species is classified as critically endangered or possibly extinct on the IUCN Red List ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
