Table of Contents: Volume 13 (2) 2014 (published 10 December 2014)

A new Early Pleistocene mammalian fauna from Burdur Basin, SW Turkey Demirel F.A., Mayda S. P. 55-63 A new Early Pleistocene mammalian locality, referred to as “Yassigüme” from Burdur Basin of SW Anatolia is reported here for the first time. Here, we describe remains of an equid and bovids, most frequent elements of the fauna, as Equus sp., Gazellospira torticornis, and Leptobos cf. etruscus, all being the first records in Turkey. The coexistence of medium-sized bovine L. etruscus with spiral-horned antelope G. torticornis, and Equus sp. suggests Late Villafranchian age (~1.5 Ma) for Yassigüme. These records fill the gap in the paleobiogeographic range of these taxa in SE Mediterranean during Pleistocene. Details    Download PDF

Far-Eastern grey voles (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Alexandromys) from Bolshoi Shantar Island Dokuchaev N.E. P. 65-70 Ognev (1929) assigned grey voles from Bolshoi Shantar Island to the root vole, separating them in a subspecies Microtus (= Alexandromys) oeconomus shantaricus Ognev, 1929. However, the shape of first lower molar anterior cup does not allow attributing of these specimens to root vole. Among Far-Eastern grey voles inhabiting the neighboring mainland, Gromov’s vole (Alexandromys gromovi Vorontsov et al., 1988) is listed. The attribution of the voles from Shantar Island to the latter species is confirmed by the similarity in fur coloration, exterior, occlusal surface pattern of m1, and geographic proximity. The final conclusion could be made after the molecular analysis of the Far-Eastern grey voles from Bolshoi Shantar Island and mainland. In the event of their identity according to the priority rule, both should get the name Alexandromys shantaricus (Ognev, 1929), and A. gromovi should be considered as a junior synonym of the latter. Details    Download PDF

Mammuthus intermedius (Proboscidea, Elephantidae) from the late Middle Pleistocene of the southern Western and Central Siberia, Russia: the problem of intermediate elements in the mammoth lineage Foronova I.V. P. 71-82 A peculiar form of the thick-enamel mammoth from late Middle Pleistocene of the Kuznetsk Basin (South of Western Siberia) and from the Acheulian-Mousterian site Ust’-Izhul’1 with a unique faunal assemblage (North-Minusinsk Basin, Kurtak, Yenisei River, south of Central Siberia) is described. It is compared to Mammuthus intermedius (Jourdan, 1861) from Western Europe. The stratigraphic position and morphometric features of molars, defining the position of this form in the mammoth lineage, characterize it as an intermediate link in the transition from M. trogontherii to M. primigenius. Mammuthus intermedius inhabited interstadial/interglacial environments of late Middle Pleistocene and had a vast Eurasian range. Details    Download PDF

Short muscles of the hand and foot in Laonastes aenigmamus (Rodentia: Diatomyidae) and some other rock-dwellers Gambaryan P.P., Zherebtsova O.V. P. 83-95 The short muscles of the hand and foot in the relict rock rat Laonastes aenigmamus Jenkins et al., 2005 (Rodentia: Diatomyidae) were studied for the first time. Some other rock-dwellers, Ctenodactylus gundi, Chinchilla lanigera, Ochotona macrotis, as well as Ochotona dauurica, inhabiting the plain landscapes, were also included in the morphological analysis for comparative purposes. In spite of the different localities of pikas, the structure of the short muscles of the hand and foot in both species of Ochotona is practically identical. At the same time the pikas differ substantially from the investigated rodents by a number of features of the short muscles: by the absence of the mm. palmaris brevis and add. digiti secundi in the hand and m. abd. metatarsi V in the foot; by the absence of the typical mm. lumbricales in the hand and the whole absence of these muscles in the foot; by the presence only one belly of the m. abd. digiti quinti in the hand instead of two bellies in rodents. In all studied forms, the structure of the m. add. digiti quinti in the hand and the mm. interossei both in the hand and foot, are characterized by a great similarity. Among the three investigated rodents, the most essential differences of the short muscles are connected with the reduction of the first fingers in the hand and foot in Ctenodactylus and Chinchilla. It was indicated that in Laonastes the state of the mm. lumbricales is evidently the most primitive. Details    Download PDF

Little genetic divergence of the greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum from far-eastern Asia, with a preliminary report on genetic differentiation of R. ferrumequinum from Eurasia and northern Africa examined from cytochrome b sequences Koh H.S., Jo J.E., Oh J.G., Kweon G.H., Ahn N.H., Sin W.H., Sin D.S. P. 97-103 We obtained cytochrome b complete sequences (1140 bp) of the greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum from Korea (Jeju Island and mainland Korea), and these sequences were compared to corresponding sequences of R. ferrumequinum, obtained from GenBank, in order to examine genetic divergence among populations within R. ferrumequinum from far-eastern Asia and other parts of the range. Specimens from four populations in far-eastern Asia (Jeju, mainland Korea, northeastern China, and Japan) formed a far-eastern clade and were little differentiated, indicating that our results support a former subspecies classification, recognized R. f. korai and R. f. quelpartis as synonyms of R. f. nippon. In addition, we found that the eastern China clade from Henan is genetically distinct from the far-eastern clade, although individuals from Japan, northeastern China, and eastern China are known as R. f. nippon, and we propose further analyses with additional specimens from China to examine whether or not the eastern China clade is a subpopulation within R. f. nippon. On the other hand, R. ferrumequinum from Eurasia and northern Africa was found to be composed of four clades (far-eastern Asia, eastern China, central China, and western Asia – Europe – northern Africa), and average nucleotide distances between the first and other three clades were 2.15%, 4.10%, and 5.37% respectively. Thus, we found that genetic distances between these clades are correlated with geographic distances between them, and we concluded that further analysis of cytochrome b and other markers from additional specimens of R. ferrumequinum across distributional range is necessary to reexamine its population structure and subspecies classification. Details    Download PDF

Valid name for the Pratt’s leaf-nosed bat, Hipposideros pratti (Hipposideridae, Chiroptera, Mammalia) Kruskop S.V. P. 105-108 Leaf-nosed bat Phyllorhina swinhoei described by Peters in 1871 from the South-East China was traditionally treated as a synonym of Hipposideros armiger. The only exception was represented by short publication of Pohle, published in 1943, where he mentioned that the Ph. swinhoei type actually belongs to H. pratti — point of view not accepted by the later authors. Studying collections of the Berlin Zoological Museum, I have found that three specimens from the Ph. swinhoei type series belong to H. armiger, while two other, including the holotype, to H. pratti. Since the Peters’ name is older, the species should be named H. swinhoei (Peters, 1871), and the whole species group should be renamed respectively. Details    Download PDF

Genetic and cytogenetic variation of African root-rats Tachyoryctes splendens (Mammalia: Rodentia) from Ethiopia Lavrenchenko L.A., Mengistu S., Bulatova N.Sh., Bekele A., Potapov S.G., Nadjafova R.S., Belay G. P. 109-118 Genetic and cytogenetic variation of African root-rats Tachyoryctes splendens sensu lato from Ethiopia was assessed on 23 complete cytochrome b gene sequences (1140 bp) and chromosomal sets from eight individuals. Results of this study suggest that the real diversity of Ethiopian Tachyoryctes splendens s.l. has been underestimated due to its apparent cryptic diversification. The molecular genetic analysis reveals genetic subdivision including at least four allopatric and deeply divergent mitochondrial lineages, restricted to the Simien Mountains and the Northern, Southern and Eastern parts of the Ethiopian Plateau. Three of them possess unique karyotypes while chromosomal characteristics of the Eastern lineage remain unknown. These lineages may represent distinct species, however additional analyses of molecular, chromosomal and morphological data should be conducted to confirm our preliminary results and provide a real basis for species delimitation within Ethiopian Tachyoryctes splendens s.l. Details    Download PDF

Intra-species structuring in the common shrew Sorex araneus (Lipotyphla: Soricidae) in European Russia: morphometric variability could give evidence of limitation of interpopulation migration Shchipanov N.A., Voyta L.L., Bobretsov A.V., Kuprianova I.F. P. 119-140 The shape of the skull, mandible, and first lower molar (m1) in 10 geographical samples from four chromosomal races of two karyotypic groups were studied using geometric morphometrics. Discriminant analysis with cross-validation was used to test the accuracy of classifications of specimens using skull shape. The percentage of correct classifications attributed to race varied from 61.8% to 89.5% and ranged from 51.6% to 82.3% for geographical samples. The structuring between races, as measured with Qst (this metric is analogous to Fst, and the latter is used as a measure of genetic disparity between samples), was less than population-level structuring both within and between races. Variance between karyotypic groups in skull size, mandible, and molar shape was greater than between races. In skull shape, the variance was smaller as compared to the inter-racial level without larger “mountain” samples and greater when the entire set of samples was estimated. Interpopulation differences in all census characteristics were the most prominent. The magnitude of Qst in interpopulation estimations was similar both among populations of the same race and among populations of different races. Lack of correlation of Qst level with geographical distance between samples was found both in size and shape of the skull, mandible, and first lower molar. The significant difference between populations within a race was regarded as evidence of limitation of interpopulation migration. Each pair of geographic samples has a unique set of differentiating features. The stochastic variability of traits between the local samples, irrespective of race, is interpreted as evidence of genetic drift within partly isolated local populations. Diminishing differences between races could be a consequence of reabsorbing those stochastic morphological differences back into the metapopulations. The greater level of phenotypic differentiation between karyotypic groups compared to races is interpreted as a greater amount of time elapsed since the time of common ancestry. Details    Download PDF