The Oltenia blind mole-rat (''Spalax istricus'') is a critically endangered, possibly extinct species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), 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 roden ...

in the family

Spalacidae The Spalacidae, or spalacids, are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. They are native to eastern Asia, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and southeastern Europe. It includes the blind mole-rats, bamboo rats, ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

Taxonomy

Previously described in 1909 by

Lajos Méhelÿ Lajos Méhelÿ (August 24, 1862 – February 4, 1953) was a Hungarian zoologist, herpetologist, professor, and prolific author. He is one of the greatest, but also one of the most controversial, personalities in the history of Hungarian zoology ...

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 The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...

and

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

follow the results of this study.

Distribution and habitat

This species is restricted to southern

, in the historical regions of

Oltenia Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...

and

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in ...

. It inhabits hilly and flat terrain of the

Wallachian Plain The Romanian Plain ( ro, Câmpia Română) is located in southern Romania and the easternmost tip of Serbia, where it is known as the Wallachian Plain ( sr, Vlaška nizija/Влашка низија). Part of the historical region of Wallachia, it ...

, covered by

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslan ...

or forest-steppe vegetation. It likely inhabits similar habitats to

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'').

Status

This species is classified as critically endangered or possibly extinct on the

. Historically, blind mole-rats were persecuted as agricultural pests. However, the primary threat leading to this species' decline is thought to be agricultural intensification and conversion of habitat to ploughed fields. No individuals have been sighted at previous localities it was known from despite repeated survey efforts, and there have been no sightings of this species since 1983. If still extant, it likely has a small extent of occurrence, and if it still occurs in the localities it was previously known from, its population is likely highly fragmented.

References

Spalax Rodents of Europe Critically endangered biota of Europe Endemic fauna of Romania Mammals described in 1909 Taxa named by Lajos Méhelÿ {{Taxonbar, from=Q42900891