Spalax nehringi Satunin 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 : 921

Spalax nehringi Satunin 1898

Spalax nehringi Satunin 1898 , Zool. Anz., 21: 314.

Type Locality: Armenia, Kasikoporan.

Vernacular Names: Nehring's Blind Mole Rat.

Synonyms: Spalax anatolicus Méhely 1909 ; Spalax armeniacus Méhely 1909 ; Spalax captorum Hinton 1920 ; Spalax cilicicus Méhely 1909 ; Spalax corybantium Hinton 1920 ; Spalax labaumei Matschie 1919 ; Spalax xanthodon Nordmann 1840 .

Distribution: Most of Turkey (except Thrace and SE region; also on isls of Gökçeada and Bozcaada; see Kryštufek and Vohralík, 2001), Armenia, and Georgia (see Gromov and Erbajeva, 1995; Topachevskii, 1969; Vorontsov et al., 1977 b).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as Nannospalax nehringi .

Discussion: Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951) and Corbet (1978 c) listed nehringi as a synonym of S. leucodon , but Topachevskii (1969) treated it as a distinct species (under subgenus Mesospalax , genus Microspalax ), a revision followed by Corbet (1984) and other researchers (Kryštufek and Vohralík, 2001; Musser and Carleton, 1993; Pavlinov et al., 1995 a; Pavlinov and Rossolimo, 1987, 1998). Topachevskii (1969) included turcicus in the synonymy, but Savič (1982 b) placed it in S. leucodon . Analyses of morphometric, chromosomal, and genetic character sets intimate that S. nehringi and its synonyms are geographic variants of S. leucodon ( Butler et al., 1993; Nevo et al., 1994 a, b, 1995, 2001; Savič and Nevo, 1990; Sözen et al., 1999; Suzuki et al., 1996 a). Russian portion reviewed by Gromov and Erbajeva (1995). See account of S. leucodon .