identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
252BC2CDDC1652C79B6682604EC5763A.text	252BC2CDDC1652C79B6682604EC5763A.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Spalax lyapunovae Brandler, Tukhbatullin, Kapustina & Puzachenko 2026	<div><p>Spalax lyapunovae Brandler, Tukhbatullin, Kapustina &amp; Puzachenko sp. nov.</p><p>Figures 14, 15</p><p>Spalax microphthalmus – Tembotov and Shkhashashev (1987: 172, 173)</p><p>Spalax microphthalmus – Dzuev (1989: 55–57)</p><p>Spalax cf. giganteus, Spalax ex gr. giganteus - arenarius, " giganteus " group – Korobchenko and Zagorodniuk (2009: 16, 22)</p><p>Spalax microphthalmus – Tembotova (2015: fig. 129)</p><p>Spalax microphthalmus – Dzuev et al. (2025 a)</p><p>Common name.</p><p>Lyapunova’s blind mole rat.</p><p>Holotype.</p><p>S-211554, an adult / old male specimen preserved as skull and skin (Fig. 14) in good condition is held in the Zoological Museum of Lomonosov Moscow State University (ZMMU), Moscow, and tissue samples are stored in the ‘ Collection of wildlife tissues for genetic research’ of the Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CWT IDB), Moscow, under collection ID 27260; collected by O. V. Brandler, A. R. Tukhbatullin, and S. Y. Kapustina on 16 May 2021. The mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) and nuclear interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein gene (IRBP) sequences are deposited in GenBank under acc. no. PV 012729 and PX 613618, respectively .</p><p>Type locality.</p><p>7 km south-south-west of <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=42.68215&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=43.835323" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 42.68215/lat 43.835323)">Kislovodsk town</a> (43.835324°N, 42.682150°E, elevation ~ 1382 m above sea level [a. s. l.], coordinates taken by GPS), Russia, Stavropol Krai, Predgorniy Municipality .</p><p>Paratypes.</p><p>Five specimens (skulls and skins in ZMMU and tissue samples in CWT IDB) collected by O. V. Brandler, A. R. Tukhbatullin, and S. Y. Kapustina in the type locality: 1) S-211553 ZMMU, 27259 CWT IDB, adult male, 15 May 2021; 2) S-211555 ZMMU, 27261 CWT IDB, adult female, 16 May 2021; 3) S-211556 ZMMU, 27262 CWT IDB, adult male, 16 May 2021; 4) S-211557 ZMMU, 27263 CWT IDB, subadult male, 16 May 2021; and 5) S-211558 CWT 27268 IDB, adult male, 16 May 2021. The GenBank acc. no. PV 012730 provides the cyt b sequence common to all paratypes. Seven specimens (skulls and skins) from Russia, Kabardino-Balkaria are housed in the collections of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University (KBSU) and the Tembotov Institute (TI), both Nalchik: KBSU S-1786 and KBSU S-1788, adult male and adult female respectively, skulls, Zolsky District, “ Aursentkh ” (“ Narzan Valley ”; approximately 43.695582°N, 42.677053°E, elevation ~ 2000 m a. s. l.), collected by R. I. Dzuev and A. L. Shogenova, 3 August 2003; KBSU S-1790, adult male, skull, from the same place, collected by R. I. Dzuev and A. L. Shogenova, 5 August 2003; KBSU S- 228, adult female, skull, Prokhladny town district, 6 km west of Prokhladny town (dacha areas; approximately 43.773479°N, 43.905801°E, elevation ~ 150 m a. s. l.), collected by A. Lenshin, 25 June 1999; TI S-13609, adult male, skull, Zolsky district, Psynadakha village (approximately 43.843078°N, 43.218281°E, elevation ~ 650 m a. s. l.), collected by A. A. Tembotov and F. A. Tembotova, 15 June 2000; TI S-13382, juvenile female, skull, the same place of trapping, collected by F. A. Tembotova, 15 June 2000; TI S-10801, Zolsky District, “ Aursentkh ” (approximately 43.695582°N, 42.677053°E, elevation according to the museum label: 2000 m a. s. l.), collected by R. I. Dzuev, 25 July 1987.</p><p>Diagnosis.</p><p>A typical member of the genus Spalax as diagnosed by V. A. Topachevsky (Topachevsky 1969). Spalax lyapunovae sp. nov. may be recognized by the following combination of characteristics. It is the smallest living species in the genus. Two cranial morphological characters distinguish the species from other members of the genus: a very short foramen incisivum (3.48 ± 0.10 mm, 3.11–3.78 mm) and a convex rounded shape of the posterior palatal notch. The latter character is clearly discernible in the skulls of both adult and juvenile animals. The fossa glenoidea is extraordinarily short (9.3 ± 0.2 mm, 8.11–10.89 mm). The skull is low with a wide base relatively to skull dimensions. The posterior (maximal) rostrum height at the level of the preorbital foramina is 12.9 ± 0.21 mm (11.26–14.37 mm), representing 77.4 ± 0.47 % (67.2–88.2 %) of the rostrum length and 25.6 ± 0.35 % (22.7–27.9 %) of the maximum skull length. The lower jaw is long relatively skull (62.3 ± 0.44 %; 56.9–65.1 %). The incisura corono-alveolaris has an irregular margin.</p><p>Karyotype.</p><p>Diploid chromosome number 2 n = 62 (NFa = 120, NF = 124). The chromosome set consists of five pairs of medium- and small-sized metacentrics, 12 pairs of submetacentrics decreasing in size, and 13 pairs of subtelocentrics, including two pairs of the largest elements in the set. The X chromosome is a large metacentric or submetacentric, and the Y chromosome is a small subtelocentric.</p><p>Genotype.</p><p>The complete cyt b sequence differs from those of other Spalax species by the following unique substitutions: C → A at position 28, A / C → T at 126, A → G at 294, C → T at 324, A / C / T → G at 396, A / G / T → C at 462, A / C → T at 531, A → G at 888, G → A at 904, and A → G at 990.</p><p>Description.</p><p>Body weight (all ages): 221.4 ± 16.6 g (120–315 g, N = 15); hind foot length: 24.8 ± 0.3 mm (22.1–26.3 mm, N = 15). According to Dzuev et al. (Dzuev et al. 2019, 2025 b), blind mole rats from the northern slope of the Central Caucasus have a body mass ranging from 170 to 350 g, a body length ranging from 167.0 to 239.5 mm, and a hind foot length ranging from 19.0 to 27.2 mm.</p><p>The fur coloration is typical for blind mole rats and exhibits individual and age-related variation. The overall tone on the back and sides is light fawn, while the belly is gray. The dorsal surface of the head is densely covered with silvery hairs (Fig. 15).</p><p>The maximum skull length in adult animals is 50.4 ± 0.47 mm (47.2–53.2 mm). zygomatic width is 37.5 ± 0.53 mm (33.88–41.67 mm). Mastoid width is 26.3 ± 0.23 mm (24.37–28.05 mm). Skull height is 21.2 ± 0.3 mm (17.97–23.24 mm). Length of upper diastema is 18.7 ± 0.31 mm (15.96–21.71 mm), and lower diastema – 7.9 ± 0.14 mm (6.47–9.22). The lower jaw is 31.4 ± 0.37 mm (28.18–34.34 mm). Alveolar length of the upper tooth rows is 7.67 ± 0.09 mm, (6.97–8.56 mm), and the lower tooth rows – 7.07 ± 0.07 mm (6.72–7.83 mm).</p><p>Comparisons and comments.</p><p>A comparison with other recent and extinct taxa belonging to Spalax is given above. The new species shares several cranial features with S. graecus, S. microphthalmus, S. giganteus, and the extinct Early-Middle Pleistocene S. minor and S. cf. microphthalmus . Consequently, the species thus occupies a distinctive position in terms of its cranial characteristics. Taking into account the phylogenetic interpretation, the new species exhibits a set of “ primitive ” features proposed for the common ancestor of the “ western ” and “ eastern ” lineages within the genus Spalax . We hypothesize that the new species shares a common ancestor with the greater blind mole rat ( S. microphthalmus), but is not the ancestor of the latter, and vice versa. Topachevsky (1969: 210) noted that S. microphthalmus largely retains similarities to the fossil Early Pleistocene S. minor, which “ with a sufficient degree of probability, allows it to be considered a direct descendant of the latter. ” The new species shares even more traits with S. minor, including its small size; in our opinion, this is the primary factor underlying its similarity to S. microphthalmus . Based on morphological data, we suggest that S. lyapunovae sp. nov. represents an evolutionary lineage directly linked to S. minor . The species probably evolved in the North Caucasus region no later than the Middle Pleistocene, before the 60 - chromosome form ( S. microphthalmus) emerged from the hypothetical 62 - chromosome Spalax ( S. minor ?) in Eastern Europe.</p><p>Etymology.</p><p>The species is named in honor of Professor Dr. Elena A. Lyapunova in recognition of her contribution to the study of the genetics and cytogenetics of Spalacidae .</p><p>Distribution and ecology.</p><p>The range limits of the new species need to be clarified. It is not known whether the range of the new species overlaps with that of the greater blind mole rat. So far, it can be stated that the species inhabits the Central Caucasus from the foothills (150 m a. s. l.) to the subalpine belt (&gt; 2000 m a. s. l.; Fig. 1). According to Dzuev et al. (2019), the blind mole rats have entered the subalpine belt relatively recently. Changes in habitat conditions have affected a number of dimensional and physiological parameters of the animals (body weight, blood parameters, etc.). The ecology of the species itself remains largely unexplored. There is little or no information about the density of its local populations (Dzuev et al. 2025 a).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/252BC2CDDC1652C79B6682604EC5763A	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Pensoft via Plazi	Brandler, Oleg V.;Tukhbatullin, Andrey R.;Kapustina, Svetlana Y.;Matveevsky, Sergey N.;Tembotova, Fatimat A.;Puzachenko, Andrey Y.	Brandler, Oleg V., Tukhbatullin, Andrey R., Kapustina, Svetlana Y., Matveevsky, Sergey N., Tembotova, Fatimat A., Puzachenko, Andrey Y. (2026): Integrative systematics of large-bodied blind mole rats (Rodentia: Spalacidae: Spalax) with description of Spalax lyapunovae sp. nov. from the North Caucasus. Vertebrate Zoology 76: 247-274, DOI: 10.3897/vz.76.e180973
