Nannospalax
Nannospalax | |
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Lesser blind mole-rat (N. leucodon) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Spalacidae |
Subfamily: | Spalacinae |
Genus: | Nannospalax Palmer, 1903 |
Species | |
|
Nannospalax is a genus of
Taxonomy and evolution
Until 2013, members of this genus were grouped in Spalax, but phylogenetic analysis indicates that both diverged during the late Miocene, about 7.6 million years ago, when a marine barrier formed between Anatolia and the Balkans. It also supports two different subgenera within this genus; Nannospalax sensu stricto (containing a single species) and Mesospalax, which diverged from each other during the late Miocene or early Pliocene, after the uplift of the Anatolian Plateau.[4]
Members of this genus are notable for their extreme chromosomal diversity, some of which may represent as-of-yet unrecognized species-level taxa.[3] Genetic analysis indicates distinct periods of diversification among spalacids that correspond with climactic changes caused by Milankovitch cycles.[4]
Species
There are three species in this genus in two subgenera:
- Genus Nannospalax
- Subgenus Nannospalax
- Middle East blind mole-rat or Palestine mole-rat, N. ehrenbergi
- Subgenus Mesospalax
- Lesser blind mole-rat, N. leucodon
- Anatolian blind mole-rat or Nehring's blind mole-rat, N. xanthodon
- Subgenus Nannospalax
Some authorities, including
- Mount Carmel blind mole-rat(N. carmeli)
- Golan Heights blind mole-rat(N. golani)
- Upper Galilee Mountains blind mole-rat(N. galili)
- Judean Mountains blind mole-rat(N. judaei).
However, the American Society of Mammalogists and the IUCN Red List presently group these within N. ehrenbergi due to taxonomic uncertainty.[5][6][7]
References
- , retrieved 2022-03-07
- S2CID 83596816.
- ^ S2CID 92557692.
- ^ PMID 22253871.
- ^ "Nannospalax ehrenbergi (Nehring, 1898)". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
- . Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- S2CID 90250254.