Review of distribution and morphometric peculiarities of the mole vole Ellobius talpinus (Arvicolidae) in the Lower Dnipro river region (Ukraine)

Abstract

The northern mole vole is known in the right-bank Dnipro region from three old (1928–1936) and three modern (1995–2014) locations. Described settlements are confined to steppe communities preserved in branched steppe ravines that run down to the Dnipro River, throughout the area from Berislav city in the Kherson Region to the vicinities of Ordzhonikidze city in the Dnipropetrovsk Region. Recently found locations represent relatively strong and viable populations, which were obviously completely isolated from each other. The strongest population is in the Virivka and the Mylove groups of settlements (Beryslav District). According to morphometric features analyzed in the old collection and new samples (n = 13), mole voles from the right bank of Dnipro Region (n = 6) did not significantly differed from ones of Azov populations, except for a slightly larger body length (110 mm against 102 mm). We suggest an existence of a far larger number of existing settlements of this species in the region because the voles were found in all three checked locations.

Keywords

• Ellobius talpinus
• steppe fauna
• distribution
• morphology
• Dnipro region
• Ukraine