Martino's mole(Talpa martinorum) is a species of small blindmolein the familyTalpidaefound in eastern Thrace along the westernBlack Seacoast in south-easternBulgariaand north-easternTurkey,mainly in theStrandzhamountain range. In Bulgaria it is found inStrandzha Nature Park.[1]Martino's mole is named in honour of the couple Evgeniya and Vladimir Martino, key earlier Balkan mammalogists.[1]
| Martino's mole | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | Talpidae |
| Genus: | Talpa |
| Species: | T. martinorum
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| Binomial name | |
| Talpa martinorum | |
| |
| Martino's mole range | |
Taxonomy
editIndividuals of this species were formerly classified asT. caecaorT. levantisuntil being classified as a new species.T. martinorumis not closely related to the otherTalpaendemic to the Balkans,T. stankovici.Rather, it is most closely related to the widespreadT. europaeaas well asT. aquitania,andT. occidentalis,both of which are endemic to western Europe.Based on this,T. martinorumlikely originated from an isolated population of a mole species that was also ancestral toT. europaea,as is also considered to be the case for the origin ofT. aquitaniaandT. occidentalis.Fossil evidence shows that a mole species similar to the presentT. martinorumlived in the region during the Pliocene, indicating thatT. martinorumhas persisted in its current territory for a long time.[1][2]
References
edit- ^abcKrystufek, Boris; Nedyalkov, Nedko; Astrin, J.J.; Hutterer, Rainer (2018-08-01)."News from the Balkan refugium: Thrace has an endemic mole species (Mammalia: Talpidae)".Bonn Zoological Bulletin.67:41–57.
- ^"A New Species of Mammal Found in Bulgaria".Retrieved2018-11-04.