View source for Spalax

{{Short description|Genus of rodents}}
{{automatic taxobox
| image = Філія ЛПЗ НАНУ "Стрільцівський степ" Spalax microphthalmus.jpg
| image_caption = [[Greater blind mole-rat]] (''S. microphthalmus'')
| taxon = Spalax
| authority = [[Johann Anton Güldenstädt|Güldenstädt]], 1770
| type_species = ''[[Spalax microphthalmus]]''<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3|id=13000025}}</ref>
| type_species_authority = [[Güldenstädt]], 1770
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision = ''[[Spalax antiquus]]''<br />
''[[Spalax arenarius]]''<br />
''[[Spalax giganteus]]''<br />
''[[Spalax graecus]]''<br />
''[[Spalax istricus]]''<br />
''[[Spalax microphthalmus]]''<br />
''[[Spalax uralensis]]''<br />
''[[Spalax zemni]]''
}}

'''''Spalax''''' is a [[genus]] of [[rodent]] in the family [[Spalacidae]], subfamily [[Spalacinae]] (blind mole-rats). It is one of two extant genera in the subfamily [[Blind mole-rat|Spalacinae]], alongside ''[[Nannospalax]]''.''<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last1=Hadid |first1=Yarin |last2=Németh |first2=Attila |last3=Snir |first3=Sagi |last4=Pavlíček |first4=Tomáš |last5=Csorba |first5=Gábor |last6=Kázmér |first6=Miklós |last7=Major |first7=Ágnes |last8=Mezhzherin |first8=Sergey |last9=Rusin |first9=Mikhail |last10=Coşkun |first10=Yüksel |last11=Nevo |first11=Eviatar |date=2012-01-09 |title=Is Evolution of Blind Mole Rats Determined by Climate Oscillations? |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |article-number=e30043 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0030043 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3253805 |pmid=22253871|bibcode=2012PLoSO...730043H |doi-access=free }}</ref>''

Species in this genus are found in [[Eastern Europe]] and [[Western Asia|Western]] & [[Central Asia]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Database |first=Mammal Diversity |title=Mammal Diversity Database |date=2022-02-01 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.5945626 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5945626 |access-date=2022-03-08}}</ref> They are completely blind and have a subterranean lifestyle.<ref name="Lamarck2">{{cite book |author=Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8NsTAAAAQAAJ |title=Philosophie zoologique ou exposition des considérations relatives à l'histoire naturelle des animaux |publisher=Dentu |year=1809}}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==
Prior to 2013, ''Spalax'' was widely considered the only member of Spalacinae, with all blind mole-rat species being grouped within it. However, phylogenetic and morphological evidence supported some of the species within it forming a distinct lineage that diverged from the others during the [[Late Miocene]], when a marine barrier formed between [[Anatolia]] and the [[Balkans]]. These species were reclassified into the genus ''[[Nannospalax]]'', making ''Spalax'' one of two extant spalacine genera.''<ref name=":12"/>''

==Species ==

*[[Mehely's blind mole-rat]]'', S. antiquus''<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|title=Old views and new insights: taxonomic revision of the Bukovina blind mole rat, Spalax graecus (Rodentia: Spalacinae)|date=2013|doi=10.1111/zoj.12081|url=http://real.mtak.hu/7751/7/NemethA%202013%20zoj_12081%20Copy.pdf|last1=Németh |first1=Attila |last2=Homonnay |first2=Zalán G. |last3=Krízsik |first3=Virág |last4=Csorba |first4=Máté |last5=Pavlíček |first5=Tomáš |last6=Hegyeli |first6=Zsolt |last7=Hadid |first7=Yarin |last8=Sugár |first8=Szilárd |last9=Farkas |first9=János |last10=Csorba |first10=Gábor |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=169 |issue=4 |pages=903–914 |s2cid=82892241 }}</ref>
*[[Sandy blind mole-rat]], ''S. arenarius''
*[[Giant blind mole-rat]], ''S. giganteus''
*[[Bukovina blind mole-rat]], ''S. graecus''
*[[Oltenia blind mole-rat]], ''S. istricus'' (possibly [[Extinction|extinct]])<ref name="ReferenceA" />
*[[Greater blind mole-rat]], ''S. microphthalmus''
*[[Kazakhstan blind mole-rat]], ''S. uralensis''
*[[Podolsk blind mole-rat]], ''S. zemni''

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal | last1 = Jansa | first1 = S. A. | last2 = Weksler | first2 = M. | year = 2004 | title = Phylogeny of muroid rodents: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP gene sequences | journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume = 31 | issue = 1 | pages = 256–76 | doi = 10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.002 | pmid = 15019624 | bibcode = 2004MolPE..31..256J }}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Michaux | first1 = J. | last2 = Reyes | first2 = A. | last3 = Catzeflis | first3 = F. | year = 2001 | title = Evolutionary history of the most speciose mammals: molecular phylogeny of muroid rodents | journal = Molecular Biology and Evolution | volume = 18 | issue = 11 | pages = 2017–2031 | doi = 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a003743 | pmid = 11606698 | doi-access = free }}
* Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton (2005). "[https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/browse.asp?id=13000001 Superfamily Muroidea]." pp.&nbsp;894&ndash;1531 in Wilson, D. E. and D. M. Reeder, eds. ''Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference''. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
* {{cite journal | last1 = Norris | first1 = R. W. | last2 = Zhou | first2 = K. Y. | last3 = Zhou | first3 = C. Q. | last4 = Yang | first4 = G. | last5 = Kilpatrick | first5 = C. W. | last6 = Honeycutt | first6 = R. L. | year = 2004 | title = The phylogenetic position of the zokors (Myospalacinae) and comments on the families of muroids (Rodentia) | journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume = 31 | issue = 3 | pages = 972–978 | doi = 10.1016/j.ympev.2003.10.020 | pmid = 15120394 | bibcode = 2004MolPE..31..972N }}
* Nowak, R. M. (1999). ''Walker's Mammals of the World'', '''II'''. London: Johns Hopkins University Press {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5789-8}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Steppan | first1 = S. J. | last2 = Adkins | first2 = R. A. | last3 = Anderson | first3 = J. | year = 2004 | title = Phylogeny and divergence date estimates of rapid radiations in muroid rodents based on multiple nuclear genes | journal = Systematic Biology | volume = 53 | issue = 4 | pages = 533–553 | doi = 10.1080/10635150490468701 | pmid = 15371245 }}
* Topachevskii, V. A. (1976) ''Fauna of the USSR. Volume III: Mammals. Issue 3: Mole rats, Spalacidae''. New Delhi: Amerind.
*{{cite journal | first1=Irena |last1=Manov |first2=Mark |last2=Hirsh |first3=Theodore C |last3=Iancu |first4=Assaf |last4=Malik |first5=Nick |last5=Sotnichenko |first6=Mark |last6=Band |first7=Aaron |last7=Avivi |first8=Imad |last8=Shams |year=2013 |title=Pronounced cancer resistance in a subterranean rodent, the blind mole-rat, Spalax: in vivo and in vitro evidence|journal=BMC Biology|volume=11 |page=91 |doi=10.1186/1741-7007-11-91 |pmid=23937926 |pmc=3750378 |doi-access=free }}

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[[Category:Spalax ]]
[[Category:Rodent genera]]
[[Category:Extant Miocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Anton Güldenstädt]]

[[fr:Spalacinae]]
[[pl:Ślepce]]