Chionomys nivalis (Martins 1842)

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 : 969

Chionomys nivalis (Martins 1842)

[Arvicola] nivalis Martins 1842 , Rev. Zool. Paris: 331.

Type Locality: Switzerland, Berner Oberland, Faulhorn.

Vernacular Names: European Snow Vole.

Synonyms: Chionomys abulensis (Agacino 1936) ; Chionomys aleco Paspalev, Martino, and Peshev 1952 ; Chionomys alpinus (Wagner 1843) ; Chionomys appenninicus (Dal Piaz 1929) ; Chionomys aquitanius (Miller 1908) ; Chionomys cedrorum Spitzenberger 1973 ; Chionomys dementievi ( Heptner 1939) ; Chionomys hermonis (Miller 1908) ; Chionomys lebruni (Crespon 1844) ; Chionomys leucurus (Gerbe 1852) ; Chionomys loginovi ( Ognev 1950) ; Chionomys malyi (Bolkay 1925) ; Chionomys mirhanreini (Schäfer 1935) ; Chionomys nivicola (Schinz 1845) ; Chionomys olympius (Neuhäuser 1936) ; Chionomys petrophilus (Wagner 1853) ; Chionomys pontius (Miller 1908) ; Chionomys radnensis (Ehik 1942) ; Chionomys satunini (Shidlovsky 1919) ; Chionomys spitzenbergerae Nadachowski 1990 ; Chionomys trialeticus (Shidlovsky 1919) ; Chionomys ulpius (Miller 1908) ; Chionomys wagneri Martino 1940 .

Distribution: Mountains of S Europe (Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, Balkan mountains, Pindhos Range and Mt Olimbos), east to Turkey, W Caucasus ( Armenia, Georgia), Lebanon, W Syria, Zagros and Elburz Mtns of W and N Iran, and Kopet Dag of S Turkmenistan.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: European populations reviewed by Krapp (1982 a) and Mitchell-Jones et al. (1999), those in Russia and nearby regions by Gromov and Erbajeva (1995). Other regional and geopolitical accounts of distribution and taxonomy include the Navarra region, N Spain ( Castien and Gosalbez, 1992, as Microtus nivalis ); Switzerland ( Hausser, 1995; Maurizio, 1994); Italy ( Amori et al., 1999), especially N Italy ( Cantini, 1991; Cresti et al., 1994; Locatelli and Paolucci, 1996 a, b; Paolucci et al., 1993); Alpic, Dinaric, and Shara-Pindic mountain systems in Serbia and Montenegro ( Petrov, 1992); Slovakia (Mošanský, 1994; Stanko and Mošanský, 1994, 2000); Slovenia (Kryštufek, 1991); Turkey (Kryštufek, 1999 c); Greece ( Niethammer, 1987 b); the Middle East ( Harrison and Bates, 1991); and Iran ( Lay, 1967).

Kratochvíl (1981 a) analyzed intraspecific variation among Carpathian samples and reviewed European and Turkish subspecies. The subspecies spitzenbergerae denotes a population from S Turkey that was previously misidentified by Spitzenberger (1971 b) as C. gud , which is known only from NE Turkey where it is sympatric with C. nivalis ( Nadachowski, 1990 b) . Association of the overlooked appenninicus is discussed by Kryštufek (1997). Vertical distribution in Serbia and Montenegro documented by Kryštufek and Kovacic (1989); geographic variation within Austria and Serbia and Montenegro by Kryštufek (1990); distribution in Portugal, Spain and France and morphometric distinctions from regional Microtus by Madureira (1983). Chromosomal variation in Bulgarian populations reported by Peshev and Belcheva (1979); Zima et al. (1997 a) documented karyotypes from a Macedonian population and reviewed chromosomal data from other geographic areas. Allozymic variation within N Italy and Israel suggests that the Israeli population from Mt Hermon ( hermonis ) is a separate species ( Filippucci et al., 1991). Nadachowski (1992) analyzed dental patterns of Quaternary and extant populations to reconstruct timing and routes of past migrations; he also mapped the insular montane distribution from Spain to Iran, the scientific names applied to each segment, and Quaternary fossil sites. Although now absent from the British Isles, C. nivalis occurred in S England during the last Pleistocene glaciation ( Kowalski, 1967; Nadachowski, 1991) .