Myodes centralis Miller 1906

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 : 1022

Myodes centralis Miller 1906

Myodes centralis Miller 1906 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 17: 373.

Type Locality: Kazakhstan, W Tien Shan Mtns, Koksu valley, 9000 ft (2743 m).

Vernacular Names: Tien Shan Red-backed Vole.

Synonyms: Myodes frater (Thomas 1908) .

Distribution: Known only from Tien Shan in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and adjacent NW Xinjiang, China ( Zhang et al., 1997, as C. frater ).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as Clethrionomys centralis .

Discussion: A distinctive species related to M. glareolus . Recognized as valid by Hinton (1926 a) and most subsequent systematists ( Corbet, 1984; Gromov and Erbajeva, 1995; Pavlinov and Rossolimo, 1987; Pavlinov et al., 1995 a), but Corbet (1978 c) included it in M. glareolus . Some Russian ( Gromov and Polyakov, 1977) and Chinese ( Ma and Jiang, 1996; Ma et al., 1987; Zhang et al., 1997) researchers still use frater for the species or retain both as distinct ( Wang, 2003). Chromosomal data recorded by Vorontsov et al. (1978), Sokolov et al. (1990), and Ma and Jiang (1996). Not surprisingly, allozymic analyses cluster M. centralis and M. glareolus apart from other continental species ( Mezhzherin and Serbenyuk, 1992).