Spalax graecus Nehring 1898

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 : 920

Spalax graecus Nehring 1898

Spalax graecus Nehring 1898 , Zool. Anz., 21: 228.

Type Locality: Ukraine, Bukovina region, vicinity of Chernovtsy (as restriced by Topachevskii, 1969).

Vernacular Names: Balkan Blind Mole Rat.

Synonyms: Spalax antiquus Méhely 1909 ; Spalax istricus Méhely 1909 ; Spalax mezöségiensis Szunyoghy 1937 .

Distribution: Romania (Suceava, Craiova, Transylvania, and lower Danube Valley) and SW Ukraine, a European endemic ( Gromov and Erbajeva, 1995; Mitchell-Jones et al., 1999; Savič, 1982 d; Topachevskii, 1969).

Conservation: IUCN – Vulnerable.

Discussion: Included in S. microphthalmus by Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951) and Corbet (1978 c), but arranged as a distinctive species by Topachevskii (1969) and so listed by Pavlinov and Rossolimo (1987, 1998) and Pavlinov et al. (1995 a). Savič (1982 d) reviewed in detail the European segment; Gromov and Erbajeva (1995) discussed the portion the Ukraine. Topachevskii (1969) recognized istricus , apparently restricted to Romania, as a subspecies, and Murariu and Torcea (1984) separated it as a species based on cranial traits. Their sample, however, was small, and traits believed to discriminate istricus from S. graecus should be reassessed using larger samples from both Romania and the Ukraine. Chromosomal traits (2n = 62, FN = 124) illuminated by Lyapunova et al. (1974).