Taxonomic revision of the Levant moles of Turkey (Mammalia: Talpidae)

KEFELİOĞLU H., Kryštufek B., Selçuk A. Y., Hutterer R., Astrin J. J.

Bonn Zoological Bulletin, vol.69, no.2, pp.275-291, 2021 (Scopus) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 69 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.20363/bzb-2020.69.2.275
  • Journal Name: Bonn Zoological Bulletin
  • Journal Indexes: Scopus, BIOSIS, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Page Numbers: pp.275-291
  • Keywords: Cytochrome b, Molecular taxonomy, Morphology, Phylogeography, Subspecies, Talpa levantis, Talpa martinorum
  • Ondokuz Mayıs University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper examines the distribution and the morphological and genetic variation of Talpa levantis. Previous records from Thrace were re-identified as Talpa martinorum, restricting the range of Talpa levantis to northern Asia Minor and the Caucasus in Georgia, Armenia and Russia. Within Talpa levantis, we found three moderately distinct populations in western, central, and eastern Turkey. While the central one is T. l. levantis and the eastern one T. l. transcaucasica, the western subspecies had not been recognized before and is therefore named as a new subspecies.