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The Spalacidae, or spalacids, are a
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s in the large and complex
superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...
Muroidea. They are native to eastern
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, the
Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
, the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, and southeastern
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. It includes the
blind mole-rat The blind mole-rats, also known as the fossorial or subterranean mole rats, are a subfamily (Spalacinae) of rodents in the family Spalacidae, found in eastern Europe and western & central Asia. The hystricognath mole-rats of the family Bathyergi ...
s, bamboo rats, mole-rats, and zokors. This family represents the oldest split (excluding perhaps the Platacanthomyidae) in the muroid superfamily, and comprises animals adapted to a
subterranean Subterranean(s) or The Subterranean(s) may refer to: * Subterranea (geography), underground structures, both natural and man-made Literature * ''Subterranean'' (novel), a 1998 novel by James Rollins * ''Subterranean Magazine'', an American fa ...
way of life. These rodents were thought to have evolved adaptations to living underground independently until recent genetic studies demonstrated they form a
monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
group. Members of the Spalacidae are often placed in the family
Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. The name Muridae come ...
along with all other members of the Muroidea.


Characteristics

Spalacids are
mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
- to
rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
-sized rodents, adapted to burrowing and living underground. They have short limbs, wedge-shaped skulls, strong neck muscles, large incisor teeth, and small eyes and external ears. In the zokors, which dig primarily with their feet, rather than their teeth, the front claws are also massively enlarged. These features are least extreme in the bamboo rats, which spend at least some of their time above ground, foraging for food. They are most highly developed in the blind mole-rats, whose eyes are completely covered by skin, and entirely lack external ears or tails. All of the spalacid species dig extensive burrows, which may include storage chambers for food, latrine chambers, and breeding nests. They are generally solitary animals, and do not share their tunnel complexes with other individuals. All the species are
herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...
s, feeding on
root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
s, bulbs, and
tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...
s. They give birth to litters of up to six young after a
gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
period between three and seven weeks, depending on the species. As with many other muroids, the young are born blind, hairless, and helpless. They may stay with the mother for several months before setting off to establish their own burrows, although some species disperse as soon as they are
weaned Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or another mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infan ...
.


Characteristics

Norris ''et al.'' listed several characteristics present in all members of this family which distinguish them from the rest of the muroids, (the
clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
Eumuroida). These are "the reduction or absence of external eyes, reduced pinnae, stocky body, short tail (<50% head and body length), broad rostrum, triangular-shaped braincase, infraorbital canal ovoid shape and does not extend ventrally to the roof of the palate, zygomatic plate absent or much reduced, nasolacrimal canal inside infraorbital canal, incisive foramina small to medium-sized, extensive neck musculature and prominent points of attachment on the occipitum, minimal reduction in M3 relative to M1 and M2, and a distinct orientation of the manubrium of the malleus bone."


Classification

The spalacids are classified in three
subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...
, six
genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
, and 37
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
. Family Spalacidae *Subfamily Myospalacinae - zokors **Genus ''
Myospalax ''Myospalax'' is a genus of rodents in the family Spalacidae. It contains these species of zokor: * False zokor, ''M. aspalax'' *Siberian zokor The Siberian zokor (''Myospalax myospalax'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It i ...
'' ***''Myospalax myospalax'' species group **** False zokor, ''M. aspalax'' **** Siberian zokor, ''M. myospalax'' ***''Myospalax psilurus'' species group ****
Transbaikal zokor The Transbaikal zokor (''Myospalax psilurus'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is found in China, Mongolia, and Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe ...
, ''M. psilurus'' **Genus ''
Eospalax ''Eospalax'' is a genus of rodents in the family Spalacidae. It contains these species: *Chinese zokor The Chinese zokor (''Eospalax fontanierii'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to China, ranging from Qinghai ...
'' *** Chinese zokor, ''E. fontanierii'' ***
Rothschild's zokor The Rothschild's zokor (''Eospalax rothschildi'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous ...
, ''E. rothschildi'' ***
Smith's zokor Smith's zokor (''Eospalax smithii'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae, endemic to China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a pop ...
, ''E. smithii'' *Subfamily Rhizomyinae **Tribe Rhizomyini - bamboo rats ***Genus ''
Rhizomys ''Rhizomys'', also known as bamboo rat, is a genus of rodents in the family Spalacidae. ''Rhizomys'' are all stocky burrowers with short, naked tails, and contains the following species: * Hoary bamboo rat (''R. pruinosus'') * Chinese bamboo ...
'' ****
Hoary bamboo rat The hoary bamboo rat (''Rhizomys pruinosus'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae found in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), East Asia (China) and South Asia (India). Description The hoary ba ...
, ''R. pruinosus'' ****
Chinese bamboo rat The Chinese bamboo rat (''Rhizomys sinensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae found in southern China, northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam. Its habitat is bamboo thickets usually at high elevations, pine forests, and plantati ...
, ''R. sinensis'' ****
Large bamboo rat The large bamboo rat, Sumatran rat, or Indomalayan rat (''Rhizomys sumatrensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae found in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is one of four species of ba ...
, ''R. sumatrensis'' ***Genus ''
Cannomys The lesser bamboo rat (''Cannomys badius'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Cannomys''. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Description Th ...
'' ****
Lesser bamboo rat The lesser bamboo rat (''Cannomys badius'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Cannomys''. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Description T ...
, ''C. badius'' ***†Genus ''
Brachyrhizomys ''Brachyrhizomys'' is an extinct genus of ground-dwelling herbivorous rodent that lived in Miocene to Pleistocene of China and India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...
'' (Miocene to Pleistocene) **Tribe Tachyoryctini ***Genus ''
Tachyoryctes ''Tachyoryctes'' is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It contains the following species: * Ankole African mole-rat (''T. ankoliae'') * Mianzini African mole-rat (''T. annectens'') * Aberdare Mountains African mole-rat (''T. audax'') * D ...
'' - African mole-rats ****
Ankole African mole-rat The Ankole mole-rat or Ankole African mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes ankoliae'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae found in southwestern Uganda and northwestern Tanzania. Its natural habitats are moist savanna and arable land Arable la ...
, ''T. ankoliae'' ****
Mianzini African mole-rat The Mianzini mole-rat or Mianzini African mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes annectens'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitats are dry savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i. ...
, ''T. annectens'' ****
Aberdare Mountains African mole-rat The Aberdare Mountains African mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes audax'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude g ...
, ''T. audax'' ****
Demon African mole-rat The northeast African mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes splendens'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae and is found in Ethiopia, Somalia, and northwest Kenya. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, dry savann ...
, ''T. daemon'' ****
Kenyan African mole-rat The Kenyan African mole-rat or Kenyan mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes ibeanus'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitats are dry savanna, moist savanna, arable land, pastureland, plantations, rural g ...
, ''T. ibeanus'' ****
Big-headed African mole-rat The big-headed African mole rat, (''Tachyoryctes macrocephalus''), also known as the giant root-rat, Ethiopian African mole rat, or giant mole rat, is a rodent species in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Ethiopia's Bale Mountains. Its nat ...
, ''T. macrocephalus'' ****
Navivasha African mole-rat The Naivasha African mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes naivashae'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, moist savanna, arable land, and pasturel ...
, ''Tachyoryctes naivashae'' ****
King African mole-rat The King African mole-rat,Musser and Carleton, 2005, p. 924 King mole-rat, or Alpine mole-rat, (''Tachyoryctes rex'') is a burrowing rodent in the genus ''Tachyoryctes'' of family Spalacidae. It only occurs high on Mount Kenya, where it is ...
, ''T. rex'' ****
Rwanda African mole-rat The Rwanda mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes splendens'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae found in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtrop ...
, ''T. ruandae'' ****
Rudd's African mole-rat Rudd's mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes ruddi'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is found in Kenya and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, subtrop ...
, ''T. ruddi'' ****
Embi African mole-rat The Embi mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes spalacinus'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, moist savanna, arable land, pastureland, plantations, and h ...
, ''T. spalacinus'' ****
Northeast African mole-rat The northeast African mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes splendens'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae and is found in Ethiopia, Somalia, and northwest Kenya. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, dry savann ...
, ''T. splendens'' ****
Storey's African mole-rat Storey's African mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes storeyi'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. Some taxonomic authorities consider it to be conspecific ...
, ''T. storeyi'' *Subfamily
Spalacinae The blind mole-rats, also known as the fossorial or subterranean mole rats, are a subfamily (Spalacinae) of rodents in the family Spalacidae, found in eastern Europe and Western Asia, western & central Asia. The Hystricognathi, hystricognath mole ...
- blind mole-rats **Genus '' Spalax'' ***
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'' ...
'', S. antiquus'' ***
Sandy blind mole-rat 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 s ...
, ''S. arenarius'' ***
Giant blind mole-rat 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. Distribu ...
, ''S. giganteus'' ***
Bukovina blind mole-rat 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 re ...
, ''S. graecus'' ***
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 ...
, ''S. istricus'' (possibly
extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
) ***
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 at ...
, ''S. microphthalmus'' ***
Kazakhstan blind mole-rat The Kazakhstan blind mole-rat or Ural blind mole-rat (''Spalax uralensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Kazakhstan, along the Ural River basin and the flood plains of the Uil, Temir, and Emba rivers. Wher ...
, ''S. uralensis'' ***
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 U ...
, ''S. zemni'' **Genus ''
Nannospalax ''Nannospalax'' is a genus of rodent in the family Spalacidae, found in eastern Europe and western Asia. It is one of two genera in the blind mole-rats (subfamily Spalacinae), alongside ''Spalax''. Members of this genus are also known as small-bod ...
'' - small-bodied mole-rats ***Subgenus ''Nannospalax'' ****
Middle East blind mole-rat The Middle East blind mole-rat or Palestine mole-rat (''Nannospalax ehrenbergi'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. Taxonomy It was formerly classified in the genus ''Spalax'', but more recent phylogenetic evidence supports it a ...
or Palestine mole-rat, ''N. ehrenbergi'' ***Subgenus ''Mesospalax'' ****
Lesser blind mole-rat The lesser blind mole-rat (''Spalax leucodon'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is found in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey and Ukraine. Prior to 20 ...
, ''N. leucodon'' ****
Anatolian blind mole-rat The Anatolian blind mole-rat or Nehring's blind mole-rat (''Nannospalax xanthodon'') is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is found in Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ...
or Nehring's blind mole-rat, ''N. xanthodon''


References

*Jansa, S. A. and M. Weksler. 2004. Phylogeny of muroid rodents: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP
gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31:256-276. *Michaux, J., A. Reyes, and F. Catzeflis. 2001. Evolutionary history of the most speciose mammals: molecular phylogeny of muroid rodents. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 17:280-293. *Steppan, S. J., R. A. Adkins, and J. Anderson. 2004. Phylogeny and
divergence date In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of th ...
estimates of rapid radiations in muroid rodents based on multiple nuclear genes. Systematic Biology, 53:533-553. {{Taxonbar, from=Q557935 Rodent families Muroid rodents Extant Miocene first appearances Taxa named by John Edward Gray