Ellobius G. Fischer 1814

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 974

Ellobius G. Fischer 1814

Ellobius G. Fischer 1814 , Zoognosia, Vol. 3: 72.

Type Species: Mus talpinus Pallas 1770

Synonyms: Afghanomys Baryshnikov and Baranova 1983 ; Chthonergus Nordmann 1839 ; Lemmomys Lesson 1842 .

Species and subspecies: 5 species in 2 subgenera:

Subgenus Ellobius (Ellobius) G. Fischer 1814

Subgenus Ellobius (Afganomys) Topachevski 1965

Species Ellobius (Ellobius) alaicus Vorontsov et al. 1969

Species Ellobius (Afganomys) fuscocapillus Blyth 1843

Species Ellobius (Afganomys) lutescens Thomas 1897

Species Ellobius (Ellobius) talpinus (Pallas 1770)

Species Ellobius (Ellobius) tancrei Blasius 1884

Discussion: Ellobiusini (emended by Pavlinov et al., 1995 a, because Ellobiini Gill 1872 is a junior homonym of Ellobiinae Adams, 1858, whose type genus Ellobium is a mollusk). Gromov and Polyakov (1977) excluded Ellobius from arvicolines; Pavlinov and Rossolimo (1987) viewed the genus as Cricetidae incertae sedis, questioning whether it belonged in Arvicolinae or Cricetinae ; and Gromov and Erbajeva (1995) included it in Cricetinae . Most workers, however, have recognized Ellobius , albeit highly specialized morphologically, as the only extant member of a tribe within Arvicolinae ( Corbet, 1978 c; Hooper and Hart, 1962; Kretzoi, 1969; McKenna and Bell, 1997; Pavlinov and Rossolimo, 1998; Pavlinov et al., 1995 a; Topachevskii and Rekovets, 1982), an affiliation supported by DNA sequence ( Just et al., 1995) and allozymic analyses ( Mezhzherin et al., 1995). Ultrastructure and evolution of sex chromosomes discussed by Kolomiets et al. (1991). Two subgenera are recognized, Ellobius and Afganomys ; Zagorodnyuk (1990) listed the latter as a genus. Topachevskii and Rekovets (1982) documented morphological trends and interspecific interpretations from the late Pliocene to Recent. The present range of Ellobius is only part of a wider distribution that once embraced Israel and North Africa in the middle to late Pleistocene ( Jaeger, 1988 a).