Abstract
Recent research of blind mole rats of the species complex Nannospalax (superspecies leucodon) identified a small and fragmented population of these rodents on both sides of the Hungarian-Serbian border. Cytogenetic investigations proved that this population karyologically identical with the Vojvodina blind mole rat described earlier as Nannospalax (leucodon) montanosyrmiensis. Based on cytochrome b gene sequences obtained from three specimens originating from separate locations, these blind mole rats form a discrete phylogenetic clade which, with a difference of about 10%, is well separated from other blind mole rat taxa inhabiting the Carpathian Basin. The taxon has only two extant populations that are 150 km apart from each other. The combined occupied area is estimated to be less than 10 km2, and the total estimated number of individuals is less than 300. These two remaining populations are heavily fragmented and under imminent threat by the establishment of tree plantations, small-scale and agro-industrial farms and land development. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that 80% of the individuals inhabit unprotected areas. A study of the landscape history of the wider area surrounding one of the populations - based on military maps spanning over the last 200 years - has shown a drastic decrease in the extent and quality of potential habitats. Based on our present knowledge, the Vojvodina blind mole rat is one of the most seriously threatened, rarest mammal in Europe, the remaining population of which can be wiped out within years unless immediate conservation action is taken.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Rodents (Order Rodentia) are usually not in the focus of conservation biology (Lidicker 1989)
Well-established taxonomy is the base for efficient conservation biology, but unclear taxonomical questions can result in the negligence of certain groups, whose extinction would mean the loss of entire evolutionary lineages, drastically decreasing the overall biodiversity on Earth
This paper presents a case study where a mammal within Europe can drift to the brink of extinction almost unnoticed as a result of the lack of information, unclear taxonomic status and unrecognised tasks in conservation biology
Summary
Rodents (Order Rodentia) are usually not in the focus of conservation biology (Lidicker 1989). Putting aside the lineage of large mole rats (genus Spalax) (for taxonomic context and nomenclatural details see Topachevskii 1969, Németh et al 2009, Arslan, Akan and Zima 2011, Hadid et al 2012), taxa belonging to Nannospalax present a long-standing source of dispute and disagreement on their systematics (Savić and Nevo 1990, Musser and Carleton 2005) Within the latter genus one of the recognised species groups (regarded as superspecies) which include a large number of karyologically different taxa (for the list of these named forms see Savić and Soldatović 1984) is Nannospalax (superspecies leucodon) (Musser and Carleton 2005). While the leucodon-superspecies itself is categorised as Least Concern (Temple and Terry 2007), populations and habitats of many different European chromosomal forms are disappearing at an alarming rate, a phenomenon which has just recently been realized (Kryštufek and Amori, 2008; Németh et al, 2009)
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