Spalax

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Genus of rodents

title: "Spalax" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["spalax", "rodent-genera", "extant-miocene-first-appearances", "taxa-named-by-johann-anton-güldenstädt"] description: "Genus of rodents" topic_path: "general/spalax" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spalax" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of rodents ::

| image = Філія ЛПЗ НАНУ "Стрільцівський степ" Spalax microphthalmus.jpg | image_caption = Greater blind mole-rat (S. microphthalmus) | taxon = Spalax | authority = Güldenstädt, 1770 | type_species = Spalax microphthalmus | type_species_authority = Güldenstädt, 1770 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = Spalax antiquus

Spalax arenarius

Spalax giganteus

Spalax graecus

Spalax istricus

Spalax microphthalmus

Spalax uralensis

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 Spalacinae, alongside Nannospalax.**

Species in this genus are found in Eastern Europe and Western & Central Asia. They are completely blind and have a subterranean lifestyle.

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.**

Species

References

References

  1. {{MSW3
  2. (2012-01-09). "Is Evolution of Blind Mole Rats Determined by Climate Oscillations?". PLOS ONE.
  3. Database, Mammal Diversity. (2022-02-01). "Mammal Diversity Database".
  4. Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste. (1809). "Philosophie zoologique ou exposition des considérations relatives à l'histoire naturelle des animaux". Dentu.
  5. (2013). "Old views and new insights: taxonomic revision of the Bukovina blind mole rat, Spalax graecus (Rodentia: Spalacinae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

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spalaxrodent-generaextant-miocene-first-appearancestaxa-named-by-johann-anton-güldenstädt