Pleistocene and modern distribution of the subterranean rodent Myospalax myospalax (Rodentia, Myospalacidae) in response to environmental factors

Abstract

The question of the modern and past distribution of Siberian zokor Myospalax myospalax (Laxmann, 1773) continues to be an unresolved puzzle. This Western Siberian endemic species belongs to the family Myospalacidae, a group of subterranean rodents. The distribution of M. myospalax went through dramatic changes due to mass hunting in the first half of the 20th century and later development of agriculture. Because of this, data from various studies executed in different years do not always match, making it difficult to determine the natural limiting factors in the distribution of Siberian zokors. In turn, paleontological data from different regions are fragmentary and have not been summarized in a single study. We aimed to review the past and modern distribution of M. myospalax and examine its relationship with environmental factors such as climate and soils distribution. We hypothesized that this species may be a good indicator of past environmental conditions because of its special habitat characteristics. We gathered and revised published data to reconstruct the distribution before the anthropogenic influence of the 20th century and during the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. The modern preanthropogenic range was compared with the distribution of soil complexes and provinces. We also examined M. myospalax molars from Late Pleistocene – Holocene localities and compared them with the modern population. The Siberian zokor distribution data provided herein will be useful for researchers from other regions who use fragmentary or doubtful data on the topic. We also identified climatic and soil parameters of M. myospalax habitat. These parameters can be used to reconstruct past environmental conditions from paleontological findings of the Siberian zokor.