Jaculus blanfordi Murray 1884

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Dipodidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 871-893 : 883

Jaculus blanfordi Murray 1884

Jaculus blanfordi Murray 1884 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, 14: 98.

Type Locality: Iran, Bushire.

Vernacular Names: Blanford's Jerboa.

Synonyms: Jaculus margianus Shenbrot 1990 ; Jaculus turcmenicus Vinogradov and Bondar 1949 .

Distribution: SE coast of Caspian Sea through Turkmenistan to the Kyzylkum Desert, C Uzbekistan ( Kuznetsov, 1965; Shenbrot et al., 1995), E and S Iran ( Lay, 1967), S and W Afghanistan ( Hassinger, 1973), and SW Pakistan ( Roberts, 1977, 1997).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: The taxon turcmenicus has been considered a separate species ( Corbet, 1978 c; Holden, 1993; Shenbrot, 1990 a), but Heptner (1975) treated it as conspecific with J. blanfordi , even though measurements given for the two species differ considerably, no tests of significance were performed, and only two specimens of J. blanfordi were included in the study. Holden (1993) recognized J. turcmenicus , as in Shenbrot (1990 a), pending critical revision. Recent research corroborates Heptner’s view ( Shenbrot et al., 1995) and turcmenicus is now included in J. blanfordi ( Pavlinov and Rossolimo, 1998; Shenbrot et al., 1995). Presence of spines on the bacula of J. blanfordi and J. orientalis (figured by Didier and Petter, 1960), is shared by turcmenicus (figured in Heptner, 1975), reinforcing its status as a geographic segment of J. blanfordi , and suggesting that the two species form a monophyletic group that excludes J. jaculus ; see also comment in Corbet (1978 c) under J. blanfordi . Taxonomic study, distribution, and review of the turcmenicus section provided by Gromov and Erbajeva (1995), Shenbrot (1990 a), and Shenbrot et al. (1995); morphology and habitat discussed by Stalmakova (1957); and karyotype described by Vorontsov et al. (1969 d).