TurkJZool 27(2003)281-292 ©TÜB‹TAK AStudyontheMorphology,KaryologyandDistributionof Ellobius Fisher,1814(Mammalia:Rodentia)inIran MohammadMORADIGHARKHELOO DepartmentofBiology,ZencanUniversity-IRAN ErkutKIVANÇ DepartmentofBiology,FacultyofScience,AnkaraUniversity-TURKEY Received:13.08.2002 Abstract: Inthisstudy,180mole-volespecimenscollectedfromwest,central,eastandsoutheastIranwereinvestigatedby morphological,biometricalandkaryologicalmethods.Accordingtoourfindings,3differentspecies, Ellobiusfuscocapillus,Ellobius lutescens andEllobiustalpinus,aredistributedinIran.KaryologicalfindingsshowedthatE.fuscocapillus has2n=36(NF=58,NFa =54),E.lutescens has2n=17(NF=34,NFa=32)and E.talpinus has2n=52(NF=54,NFa=50)chromosomes. KeyWords: Iran,Ellobius,morphology,karyology,distribution. ‹ran’dakiEllobius Fisher,1814(Mammalia:Rodentia)’unMorfolojisi, KaryolojisiveYay›l›fl›ÜzerineBirÇal›flma Özet: Buçal›flmada‹ran'›nbat›,merkez,do¤uvegüneydo¤ubölgelerindentoplanan180adetEllobius örne¤imorfolojik,biyometrik vekaryolojikolarakaraflt›r›ld›.Eldeedilenbulgularagöre‹ran'daüçtür;Ellobiusfuscocapillus,Ellobiuslutescens veEllobiustalpinus, yay›l›flgöstermektedir.Karyolojikbulgular,E.fuscocapillus'ta2n=36(NF=58,NFa=54),E.lutescens'te2n=17(NF=34,NFa =32),E.talpinus'ta2n=52(NF=54,NFa=50)oldu¤unuteyitetti AnahtarSözcükler: ‹ran,Ellobius,morfoloji,karyoloji,yay›l›fl. Introduction speciesof Ellobius andofthesespecies E.fuscocapillus Blyth(1843)describedthespecimenscollectedfrom andE.lutescens hadadistributioninIran.Ellermanand Quetta(WestPakistan)as Ellobiusfuscocapillus.Thomas Morrison-Scott(1951)statedthatE.farsistani,described (1905)wasthefirsttorecord Ellobius fromIran, byUgarovfromKopetMountain(Turkistan)in1928, describingEllobiuswoosnami,anewspecimeninIsfahan wasasynonymof E.fuscocapillus ;that E.wossnami, (Iran).Afterwards,Goodwin(1940)recorded E. describedbyThomasinDumbeneh(Iran)in1905,wasE. fuscocapillus fromAstrabad,Ellerman(1948)from l.woosnami;thatE.fusciceps,describedbyThomasfrom Kazvin,Ognev(1950)fromCentralIran,Vinogradovand Semerkant(Turkistan)in1909,was E.t.fusciceps;and Argiropulo(1941)fromMazanderan,andMisonne that E.f.lengendrei ,describedbyGoodwininthe (1959)fromHorasan,Zenjan,Senendec,Gurveand Turkmenistandesert(Iran)in1940,wasE.l.lengendrei. Lurestan. Lay(1967)determinedhat E.fuscocapillus wasavalid speciesinIranalongwiththe4subspecies E.f. Ellerman(1948)evaluatedthespecimensinthe fuscocapillus,E.f.lutescens,E.f.lengendrei and E.f. BritishMuseumandstatedthat E.fuscocacillus and E. woosnami.Corbet(1978)alsorecordedthatEllobius had lutescens describedbyThomas(1897)werevalidspecies 2species;( E.fuscocapillus ,and E.talpinus )and2 ofEllobius.EllermanandMorrison-Scott(1951)pointed subspecies(E.f.fuscocapillus andE.f.lutescens). outthat E.fuscocapillus (Blyth,1843), E.lutescens Thomas,1897and E.talpinus (Pallas,1770)werevalid Eitemad(1979)recordedthatthe3validspecies wereE.fuscocapillus,E.farsistani Ugarov,1928and E. 281 AStudyontheMorphology,KaryologyandDistributionof Ellobius Fisher,1814(Mammalia:Rodentia)inIran fusciceps Thomas,1909andthe4subspecieswere E.f. numbersofchromosomalarms),andNFa(autosomal fusciceps,E.f.lutescens,E.f.lengendrei and E.f. chromosomenumbers).Oneachskull,atotalof35 woosnami inIran.HarrisonandBates(1991)reported characters,someofwhicharementionedintheliterature thatthespeciesinIranwasE.fuscocapillus,andthetaxon (Thomas,1897;Ellerman,1948;Ognev,1950;Eitemad, inVan(Turkey)was E.f.lutescens ,evaluatingthe 1979;HarrisonandBates,1991),weremeasuredby Ellobius speciesbelongingtoIran.Coflkun(1997)stated compassesormicrometer.Someofthenecessaryor thatE.lutescens hasnosubspeciesafterstudiesinVan differentmeasurementsfromthesecalculationsare (Turkey).Insomemorphologicalstudiescarriedoutin listed.Theagedeterminationofallspecimenswascarried Iran,Lay(1967)andHarrisonandBates(1991) outtoeliminatethevariationsdependingonage,andthe suggestedthatonly1speciesand4subspeciesranged specimensweredividedinto2agegroups:matureand acrossIran,incontrasttoresearcherswhosuggested immature.Thefemaleandmalespecimenswereused that3speciesand4subspeciesweredistributedinIran. togetherintheassessmentsduetothefactthatthere Eitemad(1979)andEllermanandMorrison-Scott(1951) wasnoremarkablestatisticaldifferencebetweenthe claimedthatthegenus Ellobius wasrepresentedby2 sexes.Thefindingsaregiveninadiagnostickey,map, speciesand3subspeciesinthePalearcticregionas figuresandtables. opposedtoCorbet(1978),whostatedthatitwas representedby1speciesand2subspecies. Results Asunderstoodfromtheliteraturespecifiedabove,the taxonomyanddistributionofthegenusEllobius havenot Ellobius Fischer,1814, yetbeenfirmlydeterminedinIran,andtherearea 1814. Ellobius Fischer,Zoognosia,3:72, Mus myriadofproblemstobesolvedconcerningthisgenus. talpinusPallas. Thepurposeofthisstudyistodevelopamoresuitable Fischer(1814)tookintoaccountthe Mustalpinus approachforaddressingtheseconcernsasaconsequence describedbyPallasin1770asatypegenuswhile ofastudytobeconductedinthelightofsome establishingthegenus Ellobius.Attheendofthisstudy, morphological,statisticalandkaryologicalmethods.In itwasobservedthat3species,namely, Ellobius thisrespect,thisstudywillalsomakeacontributionto fuscocapillus (Blyth,1843), Ellobius lutescens Thomas, theMammaliafaunainIran. 1897and Ellobius talpinus (Pallas,1770),belongingto Ellobius hadadistributioninIran. MaterialsandMethods KeytoEllobius speciesinIran Inadditiontofieldobservations,skins,skullsand 1(2)Thereisnolacerationintheupperlip,the karyotypepreparationsbelongingto180specimens parietalshaveaprotuberanceinthemiddlepart,the collectedfrom24localitiesinwestandeastIranbetween interparietalisabsent, 1998and2000wereused.Thenumbersonthemapand 2(1)Thedorsalsideofthebodyisgrayishbrown,the inparanthesesinthedistributionsectionshowthe dorsalofthetailisthesameasthecolorofitsback,the localities.Allspecimenscollectedfromeachlocalitywere pointpartisflat,theprolongationsformedbythe skinnedandtheirstandardexternalmeasurements(total premaxillarbonestowardsfrontalspassthroughthe length,hindfoot,tail,weight)obtained.Additionally,the posteriorofthenasalbone,andintheventral,itisthe sex,testis,uterus,breast-feeding,and,ifpresent,the samelevelastheposterioroftheincisiveforamen.The embryonumber,andthecatchingaltitudeforeach coronoidprocessisratherlarge,andcurvedtowardsthe specimenwererecorded.Thekaryotypeanalysiswas angularprocess.Thenumberofthediploidchromosome performedaccordingtothecochicine-hypotonic-citrate is2n=17(NF=34,NFa=32)…………... E.lutescens techniqueofFordandHamerton(1956).Atleast30 3(4)Thereisalacerationinthemiddleoftheupper metaphaseplatesofeachspecimenwereexaminedwitha lip,theparietalsdonothaveaprotuberanceinthemiddle X100immersionobjective.Photographsofthe part,andtheinterparietalisabsent. metaphaseplatesweretakeninordertodetermine2n 4(3)Thedorsalsideofthebodyislightbrown,and (diploidnumberofchromosome)andNF(fundamental itformsadarkbrownareatowardsthetail.Thedorsal 282 M.MORADIGHARKHELOO,E.KIVANÇ colonofthetailisalittlelighterthantheback,andithas Ellobiusfuscocapillus (Blyth,1843)(Southern somelonghairstowardsthepoint.Theprolongations Mole–Vole) formedbythepremaxillarbonestowardsfrontalsextend 1842. Georychusfuscocapillus Blyth,J.Asiat.Soc. beyondtheposteriorofthenasalbone;intheventral,it Bengal,10:928,nom.nud., Ellobiusfuscocapillus Asiat. isthesameleveltheposterioroftheincisiveforamen. Soc.Bengal,I,1:887,1843.(SouthernMole-Vole). Thecoronoidprocessisratherlarge,andissickleshaped. Thenumberofthediploidchromosomeis2n=36(NF= Typelocality:Quetta,Belucistan 58,NFa=54)…………………………E.fuscocapillus. Distribution:ThedistributioninIranisgiveninFig.1. 5(6)Thereisalacerationinthemiddleoftheupper Numberofexaminedspecimens:39 lip,theparietalsdonothaveaprotuberanceinthemiddle Gorgan(1):Allabad,3;GonbedKabus,3;Bojnord side,andtheinterparietalispresent. (2):Bojnord,4;Bedranlu,2;Shirvan(3):Bigan,3; 6(5)Thedorsalsideofthebodyisreddishbrown, Kulanlu,2;Kuçhan(4):Palpanlu,2;Derregez(5): thetailisthinandlong,thedorsalandventralarewhite, Chelmir,3;Meshhed(6):Zeshek,4;Tegiabad,2;Seraks thepremaxillarbonesdonotextendtowardsthefrontals (8):fiurlek,4;Torbatejam(9):Kalagek,3;Birjend(10): andendinthealignmentofthenasalbone.Itcontinues Birjend,4. towardsthemiddleoftheincisiveforamenintheventral. Habitat:Thisspeciesisdistributedineverykindof Thenumberofthediploidchromosomeis2n=52(NF= agriculturalarea,openlandsandsteppeareas(exceptfor 52,NFa=50)………………………….…..…E.talpinus someplacesbetween600and2200m),sharpslopes, Azerbaijan Turkmenistan Armenia CaspianSea 18 Turkey 2 5 3 17 4 19 1 7 8 21 24 6 16 20 9 15 23 14 22 13 12 Afghanistan 11 10 Iraq Iran Pakistan 0100200km SaudiArabian PersianGulf Figure1.Thedistributionof Ellobius speciesinIran. Ellobiusfuscocapillus (▲), Ellobiuslutescens (●), Ellobiustalpinus (■).1-Gordan,2-Bojunord,3-fiirvan,4-Kuçhan,5-Deregez,6-Meflhed,7,8- Seraks,9-Torbatejan,10-Birjend,11-Isfehan,12-Erak,13-Hemedan,14-Bokan,15-Sekk›z, 16-Takap,17-Nekede,18-Tebriz,19-Bijar,20-Zencan,21-Hürremdere,22-Abhar,23- Takistan,24-Kazvin. 283 AStudyontheMorphology,KaryologyandDistributionof Ellobius Fisher,1814(Mammalia:Rodentia)inIran andplacessubjecttofloods.Itisobservedthatithasan (Fig.2a)Theprolongationofthepremaxillarbonesinthe intensivedistributioninthecloverfieldsamong ventralisthesamelevelastheposterioroftheincisive agriculturalareas. foramen(Fig.2b). TheExternalCharacteristics: Thebodyisrather Theparoccipitalprolongationsareratherlargerthan large.Thereisalacerationinthemiddleoftheupperlip. intheother2species.Theparietalbonesarelongerdue Thereisblackshadingonthefacelikeamaskthatstarts totheabsenceoftheinterparietalbone.Thesagittalcrest