94.

Lazistan Snow Vole

Chionomys lasistanius

French: Campagnol du Lazistan / German: Lasistan-Schneemaus / Spanish: Topillo nival de Lazistan

Taxonomy. Microtus (Chionomys) gud lasistanius Neuhauser, 1936, Varsambeg Dag, Rize, Turkey.

Chionomyslasistanius is in the roberti species group and sister species to C. gud . In the past, it was consistently treated as a subspecies of C. gud but retrieved as a separate species in a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial sequence. Chionomys lasistanius is allopatric with respect to C. gud . Monotypic.

Distribution. Pontic Mts in NE Turkey (as far W as Giresun) and Lesser Caucasus in S Georgia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 112-130 mm, tail 57-82 mm; weight 34-63 g. The Lazistan Snow Vole is very similar to the Gudaur Snow Vole (C. gud), and they have identical karyotypes (2n = 54, FN = 48). Tail of the Lazistan Snow Vole is 54-67% of head-body length. Eyes are moderately sized, and ears are circular, densely covered with hairs, and overtop fur. Whiskers are up to 40 mm and white. Females have two pairs of pectoral and two pairs of inguinal nipples (eight nipples in total). Fur is long and soft, with slate hair bases. Back is smoke gray, clouded brown, and belly is dull white, irregularly clouded slaty. Tail is uniformly whitish or slightly bicolored, covered by hairs that terminate into 4mm pencil. Skull is similar to that of the Gudaur Snow Vole. M* has four inner salient angles; M, has 4-6 closed triangles.

Habitat. Rocky places in alpine pastures and forests of spruce ( Picea) or fir ( Abies), both Pinaceae, at elevations of 1550-2500 m. The Lazistan Snow Vole was only rarely found in the same habitat with the European Snow Vole ( C. nivalis) and is presumably outcompeted from forests by Robert's Snow Vole (C. roberti).

Food and Feeding. Little is known, but hoarding of plants in winter caches has not been reported for the Lazistan Snow Vole.

Breeding. Pregnant Lazistan Snow Voles have 3-6 embryos (mean 3-6). Juveniles were collected in June.

Activity patterns. The Lazistan Snow Vole dwells among rocks and seeks shelter in cracks and fissures.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List as a distinct species.

Bibliography. Bannikova et al. (2013), Krystufek (1999c), Krystufek & Vohralik (2005), Sézen et al. (2009), Steiner (1972), Yannic et al. (2012).