Spalax microphthalmus Guldenstaedt 1770

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Spalacidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 907-926 : 907

Spalax microphthalmus Guldenstaedt 1770

Spalax microphthalmus Guldenstaedt 1770 , Nova Comm. Acad. Sci. Petropoli, 14: 1.

Type Locality: Russia, Voronezhskaya Oblast, Novokhoper Steppe.

Vernacular Names: Greater Blind Mole Rat.

Synonyms: Spalax pallasii Nordmann 1839 ; Spalax typhlus (Pallus 1779) .

Distribution: Steppes in Ukraine and S Russia between Dnieper and Volga Rivers, north to Orel-Kursk line, and south to Ciscaucasia (see Topachevskii, 1969; Vorontsov et al., 1977 b; clearly mapped by Gromov and Erbajeva, 1995).

Conservation: IUCN - Vulnerable.

Discussion: Monographed by Topachevskii (1969) and maintained as a species by Pavlinov and Rossolimo (1987, 1998) and Pavlinov et al. (1995 a). Zagorodnyuk (1992 b) endorsed the synonymy. Chromosomal features (2n = 60, FN = 115-120) recorded by Lyapunova et al. (1974) and summarized by Nevo et al. (2001). Reviewed by Gromov and Erbajeva (1995). Although not currently recorded from Romania, it has been identified at Pleistocene localities in that country ( Kowalski, 2001).