PROCEEDINGS OF THE LATVIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. Section B, Vol. 74 (2020), No. 1 (724), pp. 25–34. DOI: 10.2478/prolas-2020-0005 PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ZOKORS MYOSPALAX (MAMMALIA, RODENTIA) DETERMINED ON THE BASIS OF MORPHOMETRIC AND MOLECULAR ANALYSES Dalius Butkauskas1,#, Marija Starodubaitë1, Mikhail Potapov2, Olga Potapova2, Sergei Abramov2, and Yury Litvinov2 1 Nature Research Centre, Akademijos Str. 2, LT-08412 Vilnius, LITHUANIA 2 Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science, 11 Frunze Str., Novosibirsk, 630091, RUSSIA # Corresponding author,
[email protected] Communicated by Isaak Rashal Phylogenetic relationships between zokors living in different territories of Russia: Altai zokors Myospalax myospalax from “Altai” (Altai Republic and Altaiskii Krai) and “Priobie” from the River Ob zone (Tomsk oblast and Novosibirsk oblast) and subspecies M. m. tarbagataicus from Ka- zakhstan (ridge Tarbagatai) and M. aspalax and M. psilurus from Zabaikalskii Krai were deter- mined on the basis of craniometrical and molecular analysis of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. The comparison of the craniometrical and molecular data revealed significant differences be- tween the Altai zokors of the “Priobie” (the River Ob zone) and “Altai” populations. The impor- tance of geographic isolation to the formation of morphometric and genetic differentiation of distinct geographic forms of the investigated zokors is shown. Specific ecological and morphologi- cal adaptations and distinct genetic features of two forms of zokors indicate the existence of separate subspecies of the species M. myospalax. Key words: Myospalacinae, Myospalax spp., Altai zokor, craniometric analysis, systematics, molecular-genetic variability. INTRODUCTION zokors became extinct or were forced to migrate due to changing climatic conditions.