Taxonomic Revision of the Levant Moles of Turkey (Mammalia: Talpidae)

Abstract

This paper examines the distribution and the morphological and genetic variation of Talpa levantis. Previous records from Thrace were re-identified as Talpa martinorum, restricting the range of Talpa levantis to northern Asia Minor and the Caucasus in Georgia, Armenia and Russia. Within Talpa levantis, we found three moderately distinct populations in western, central, and eastern Turkey. While the central one is T. l. levantis and the eastern one T. l. transcaucasica, the western subspecies had not been recognized before and is therefore named as a new subspecies. © ZFMK.