Sandy blind mole-rat
| Sandy blind mole-rat | |
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| Spalax arenarius on a Ukrainian coin issued in 2005 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Spalacidae |
| Genus: | Spalax |
| Species: | S. arenarius
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| Binomial name | |
| Spalax arenarius Reshetnik, 1939
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The sandy blind mole-rat (Spalax arenarius) is an endangered species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Ukraine.[2]
Taxonomy and evolution
[edit]It was first identified by Evdokia Reshetnik in 1939, as a subspecies of Spalax zemni (at the time called Spalax polonicus),[3]: 144 and elevated to a species by S. Ognev in 1947.[4] S. arenarius is most closely related to S. zemni, from which it separated when the movement of the Dnieper river cut off the Lower Dnieper Sands where it lives.[5][6]
Description and behaviour
[edit]They are large moles, between 190 millimetres (7.5 in) to 275 millimetres (10.8 in) in length, and weigh between 380 grams (13 oz) to 660 grams (23 oz), with the males being larger and heavier than the females.[7]
Distribution and habitat
[edit]It is restricted to a very small region of southern Ukraine, on sandy habitats along the lower Dnieper River on the Black Sea coastal plain. The range, which is about 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi), is the smallest known of all Ukrainian mammals and may be the smallest of all European mammals.[4] It inhabits moderately wet, sandy soils with low subterranean waters, in steppes dominated by absinth-grass or absinth-spurge, with sparse vegetation otherwise. It does not inhabit dry feathergrass steppe or moving sands.[1]
Conservation status
[edit]As of the 2008 IUCN assessment, about 15,000 to 20,000 mature individuals were thought to exist. The primary segment of the population inhabits the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve, and where they were thought to have a stable population trend. However, populations outside of this protected area were thought to be declining. The primary threat to this species was habitat conversion by the afforestation of the sandy soils for stabilization and wood production.[1]
The entire population of the species is found in areas affected by the Russo-Ukrainian War, which has lead to an estimated 50% decline in their population over 2022 and 2023. The species was severely impacted by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, which led to the flooding of most of its range.[8][9] Other impacts from the war include trenching, which affects the soil in which they dig, shelling, and fires.[9][4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Tsytsulina, K. & Zagorodnyuk, I. (2008). "Spalax arenarius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T20428A9198777. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T20428A9198777.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Spalax arenarius Reshetnik, 1939". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
- ^ Korobchenko, Marina (December 2016). "Євдокія Решетник (1903–1996) — видатна постать в історії академічної зоології та екології в Україні" [Evdokia Reshetnyk (1903–1996) — An Outstanding Figure in the History of Academic Zoology and Ecology in Ukraine] (PDF). Proceedings of the National Museum of Natural History (in Ukrainian). 2016 (14). Kyiv, Ukraine: National Museum of Natural History at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine: 136–146. doi:10.15407/vnm.2016.14.136. ISSN 2219-7516. OCLC 8173121205. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ a b c National Museum of Natural History, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine); Zagorodniuk, Igor; Korobchenko, Marina; National Museum of Natural History, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine) (2023-12-30). "Chorology of Spalax arenarius, an endemic rodent species of the Lower Dnipro Sands and Taurida steppe". Theriologia Ukrainica. 2023 (26): 105–131. doi:10.53452/TU2611.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Rusin, M. (2024). "Spalax zemni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2024: e.T42655A91863646. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ Németh, Attila; Mizsei, Edvárd; Laczkó, Levente; Czabán, Dávid; Hegyeli, Zsolt; Lengyel, Szabolcs; Csorba, Gábor; Sramkó, Gábor (2024-01-01). "Evolutionary history and systematics of European blind mole rats (Rodentia: Spalacidae: Nannospalax): Multilocus phylogeny and species delimitation in a puzzling group". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 190: 107958. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107958. ISSN 1055-7903.
- ^ "Spalax arenarius Reshetnik, 1939". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
- ^ "Sandy blind mole-rat may have become extinct due to destruction of Dnieper dam". Science in Poland. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
- ^ a b Rusin, M. (2024). "Spalax arenarius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2024: e.T20428A270136276. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.