Lesser mole-rat

The lesser mole-rat (Spalax leucodon) is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae found in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Israel, Turkey, Iran and Ukraine. There have been suggestions that its taxonomic position should change in the light of new scientific information. Modern authors tend to separate this and some closely related mole rat species from other Spalax species by classifying them into a separate genus named Nannospalax. A cariological study showed that Nannospalax leucodon is a superspecies consisting of several cariologically distinct cryptic species. According to this definition there are four separate cariological forms in the Carpathian Basin, one of them endangered and another one vulnerable while insufficient data are available to evaluate the conservation status of the other two forms.

Lesser mole-rat

Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Spalacidae
Genus: Spalax
Species:
S. leucodon
Binomial name
Spalax leucodon
Nordmann, 1840
Synonyms

Nannospalax leucodon (Nordmann, 1840)

References


    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.