Microtus irani Thomas, 1921

Microtus irani Thomas, 1921: 580 .

COMMON NAME. — Iranian Vole.

HOLOTYPE. — Not traced.

TYPE LOCALITY. — Bagh-i-Rezi, Shiraz, Fars Province, 5200 ft.

DISTRIBUTION. — As currently recognized, this taxon is not endemic to Iran, however it probably should be retained due to the uncertainy of its distribution (Kryštufek 2017a, b) (C. William Kilpatrick comm. pers.). Kock et al. (1972) and Kock & Nadler (1983) expanded the range of this species to extend from Western Iran to Israel, a distribution perpetuated by others including Musser & Carleton (1993). Kryštufek & Kefelioğlu (2001) redescribed M. irani based on the holotype and three topotypes and restricted its known distribution back to the type locality. However, analysis of cytochrome b (Cytb) sequences (Kryštufek et al. 2009) suggested that M. irani also occurred in Balkusan, Turkey; and Kryštufek et al. (2010) recognized this taxon as a new subspecies (M. i. karamani). The range of M. i. karamani has been expanded to include Lebanon (Kryštufek et al. 2013) and western Iran (Mahmoudi et al. 2014).

HABITAT. — Steppe in mountains, grasslands with clumps of bushes, cultivated fields, and orchards at elevations of 1000-2100 m (Kryštufek & Kefelioğlu 2001; Kryštufek 2017a).

IUCN. — Data deficient.

REFERENCES. — Thomas (1921); Ellerman (1948); Kock et al. (1972); Kock & Nadler (1983); Musser & Carleton (1993); Kryštufek & Kefelioğlu (2001); Kryštufek et al. (2009, 2010, 2013); Mahmoudi et al. (2014); Kryštufek (2017a).

REMARK

Included in M. sociialis (Pallas, 1773) by Lay (1967) following Ellerman (1948). Currently this taxon is proposed to contain three subspecies ( irani Thomas, 1921, karamani Kryštufek, Vohralík, Zima, Koubinová & Bužan, 2010, and schidlovskii Argyropulo, 1933) with a distribution including areas of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Georgia, and Armenia. However, the taxonomic scope and the distributions of these taxa are still poorly understood (Kryštufek 2017a).

Microtus qazvinensis Golenishchev, Malikov, Nazari,