Abstract

Representatives of the gerbil subfamily (Gerbillinae) are the main components of biocenoses in deserts and semi-deserts. They are the hosts of many flea species and the main vectors of the causative plague agent in a number of natural plague foci. The taxonomic diversity, distribution pattern and host-parasite relationships of flea species noted as parasites of gerbils in the Caucasus are analyzed. Gerbils and their fleas entered the Caucasus from southwest Asia in the Pliocene in parallel to the migration of floral psammophilic complexes. In the Holocene, semi-desert and desert Turanian plants were introduced from the northeast to the Pre-Caucasus, and the fauna of gerbils and their fleas was replenished with several species and subspecies. In accordance with the settlement of carriers and vectors, sandy natural plague foci in Transcaucasia could have existed already in the Pliocene, and in the Pre-Caucasus they were formed no earlier than the Holocene.

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