Lepus tolai Pallas, 1778

Robert S. Hoffmann, 1993, Order Lagomorpha, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 807-827 : 821

Lepus tolai Pallas, 1778 . Nova Spec. Quad. Glir. Ord., p. 17.

TYPE LOCALITY: "Caeterum in montibus aprecis campisque rupestribus vel arenosis circa Selengam... " Restricted by Ognev (1940:162) to "... valley of the Selenga River ...." [ Russia] .

DISTRIBUTION: Steppes N of Caspian Sea southward along eastern shore of Caspian to E Iran; eastward through Afghanistan; Kazakhstan and S Siberia, Middle Asian republics to Mongolia; and W, C, and NE China.

STATUS: Populations in China (and perhaps elsewhere) have declined due to intensified agriculture and increased use of pesticides ( Flux and Angermann, 1990).

SYNONYMS: aralensis Severtsov, 1861; aurigineus Hollister, 1912; biddulphi Blanford, 1877 ; brevinasus J. Allen, 1909; buchariensis Ognev, 1922; butlerowi Bogdanov, 1882; centrasiaticus Satunin, 1907 ; cheybani Baloutch, 1978; cinnamomeus H. Smith, 1940; craspedotis Blanford, 1875; desertorum Ognev and Heptner, 1928; filchneri Matschie, 1907; gansuicus Satunin, 1907; gobicus Satunin, 1907; habibi Baloutch, 1978; huangshuiensis Luo, 1982; kaschgaricus Satunin, 1907; kessleri Bogdanov, 1882; lehmanni Severtsov, 1873; pamirensis Günther, 1875; petteri Baloutch, 1978; quercerus Hollister, 1912; sowerbyae Hollister, 1912; stegmanni Matschie, 1907; stoliczkanus Blanford, 1875; subluteus Thomas, 1908; swinhoei Thomas, 1894; tibetanus Waterhouse, 1841 ; turcomanus Heptner, 1934; zaisanicus Satunin, 1907.

COMMENTS: Subgenus Proeulagus ( Gureev, 1964:198) . Formerly included in capensis or europaeus ; see comments therein. Includes tibetanus ; but see also Sokolov and Orlov (1980:85); Qui (1989) also provided evidence of differentiation of tibetanus but did not address specific status. Formerly included przewalskii, now assigned to L. oiostolus ; see Cai and Feng (1982). "The situation in [southern] Iraq [and SW Iran] deserves a more detailed analysis ( Angermann, 1983:19). L. tolai petteri occurs westward to about 55°- 56°E, while L. c. arabicus occurs eastward to SE Iraq. Whether the two forms come into contact is not known, but their ranges may be separated by that of L. europaeus astaricus in SW Iran (and L. e. connorii); see Baloutch (1978) and Angermann (1983). Angermann (in litt., 1992) considered tolai conspecific with capensis . According to Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951:430) the type locality should be "Adinscholo Mountain, near Tchinden [Chinden = Chindant], on Borsja [Boriya] River, a tributary of the Onon River, Eastern Siberia." This locality is more than 700 km east of the Selanga River.