Selevinia Belosludov and Bazhanov, 1939

Mary Ellen Holden, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Myoxidae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 763-770 : 768

Selevinia Belosludov and Bazhanov, 1939 . Uchen. Zap. Kaz. Univ. Alma-Ata, 1 (1):81.

TYPE SPECIES: Selevinia betpakdalaensis Belosludov and Bazhanov, 1939 .

COMMENTS: Tribe Myomimini . Belosludov and Bazhanov (1939) recognized Selevinia as a new genus of murids, and then as a separate family of rodents seemingly allied to myoxids ( Bazhanov and Belosludov, 1941). Based on a suite of morphological characters, Ognev (1947) hypothesized that Selevinia was a highly differentiated dormouse most closely related to Myomimus . Beacuse of its distinct dental formula and structure, Ognev (1947) listed Selevinia in a separate subfamily, a hypothesis independantly suggested by Ellerman (1949a). Published descriptions and figures of Selevinia included derived character states that allowed Wahlert et al. (In Press) to place this genus within Myomimini, supporting Ognev's (1947) hypothesis. Though the nearest extant relative of Selevinia is proposed to be Myomimus, Plioselevinia, a fossil genus known from Lower Pliocene breccia of Poland, may be the closest relative of this genus.