Review of unique odd chromosome-numbered underground rodent species ofthe Palearctic region: Ellobius lutescens Thomas 1897 (Rodentia: Cricetidae)

Abstract

A review of the species within the genus Ellobius from Turkey is provided. The Transcaucasian mole vole, Ellobius lutescens, is the westernmost representative of the genus and among the most enigmatic and yet most neglected of the Palearctic placental mammals. Currently, its distribution is thought to be restricted to eastern Anatolia. The Transcaucasian mole voles inhabit a wide variety of habitats across this distribution area in semiarid or grassland territories and high-elevation cultivated fields. The species' distribution, feeding ecology, population structure, behavior, reproduction, genetics, and fossil records are reviewed here for Turkey. This paper brings together information published during the last century in books and scientific papers. Future research needs to include collation of further data on population dynamics, maximum length of the breeding season, reliable abundance estimates, and studies of distribution and migration. Other areas worthy of investigation are the identification of wintering areas, acquisition of up-todate data on reproduction and mortality, and investigations into the consequences of environmental changes for the species.

Distinguishing between three modern Ellobius species (Rodentia, Mammalia) and identification of fossil Ellobius from Kaldar Cave (Iran) using geometric morphometric analyses of the first lower molar

“…Nowadays, the genus Ellobius Fischer, 1814, occurs in southeast Europe, western and central Asia with five species (Coşkun, 2001(Coşkun, , 2016Wilson et al, 2017, Kaya et al, 2018: E. talpinus (Pallas, 1770), E. tancrei Blasius, 1884, E. alaicus Vorontsov et al, 1969 (Blyth, 1843) and E. lutescens Thomas, 1897. These fossorial species inhabit steppes, grasslands and semi-deserts, and are highly adapted to subterranean life Coşkun, 2016).…”

“…In the Late Pleistocene, Ellobius trancrei has been described from the Mousterian site of Ogzy-Kichik, Tadzhikistan (Markova, 1992). The modern species E. lutescens was found in Iraq (Bate, 1930) in the layers of Hazar Merd, dated to 25,000 years ago (Coşkun, 2016). Hashemi et al (2006) noted that remains of E. lutescens have been found in several Late Pleistocene and early Holocene sites in western and northwestern Iran: Kani Mikaeil (Kordestan), Qalaloun near Kouhdasht, Yafteh Gar, and Arjeneh near Khoramabad (Lor-estan).…”

“…Ellobius molars are notably characterized by broadly confluent triangles, and the presence of roots that are visible in adult and old individuals ( Figure 1B). Moreover, Ellobius molars lack cement in the re-entrant angles (Coşkun, 2016).…”

“…A total of 111 first lower molars (m1s) were measured. In our analysis, we took into account the individual age of the specimens using the classification of Coşkun (2016). We observed a striking difference in the occlusal pattern between young and old individuals, so we only used adult individuals, in order to avoid any bias (Stoetzel et al, 2017).…”

“…The identification of most Ellobius specimens in museums collections is based on criteria which is usually not applicable to fragmented fossil material. Previous studies on Ellobius have mainly focused on chromosomes (Romanenko et al, 2007(Romanenko et al, , 2018(Romanenko et al, , 2020Coşkun, 2016) and species discrimination based on external characters, not applicable to fossils (Gharkheloo, 2003;Tesakov, 2016). In the archaeological literature, taxonomic attributions are often restricted to Ellobius sp.…”