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SPECIES Chionomys nivalis

Author:Martins, 1842.
Citation:Rev. Zool. Paris: 331.
Common Name:European Snow Vole
Type Locality:Switzerland, Berner Oberland, Faulhorn.
Distribution:Mountains of S Europe (Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, Balkan mountains, Pindhos Range and Mt Olimbos), east to Turkey, W Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia), Lebanon, W Syria, Zagros and Elburz Mtns of W and N Iran, and Kopet Dag of S Turkmenistan.
Status:IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).
Comments:

European populations reviewed by Krapp (1982a) and Mitchell-Jones et al. (1999), those in Russia and nearby regions by Gromov and Erbajeva (1995). Other regional and geopolitical accounts of distribution and taxonomy include the Navarra region, N Spain (Castien and Gosalbez, 1992, as Microtus nivalis); Switzerland (Hausser, 1995; Maurizio, 1994); Italy (Amori et al., 1999), especially N Italy (Cantini, 1991; Cresti et al., 1994; Locatelli and Paolucci, 1996a, b; Paolucci et al., 1993); Alpic, Dinaric, and Shara-Pindic mountain systems in Serbia and Montenegro (Petrov, 1992); Slovakia (Mošanský, 1994; Stanko and Mošanský, 1994, 2000); Slovenia (Kryštufek, 1991); Turkey (Kryštufek, 1999c); Greece (Niethammer, 1987b); the Middle East (Harrison and Bates, 1991); and Iran (Lay, 1967).

Kratochvíl (1981a) analyzed intraspecific variation among Carpathian samples and reviewed European and Turkish subspecies. The subspecies spitzenbergerae denotes a population from S Turkey that was previously misidentified by Spitzenberger (1971b) as C. gud, which is known only from NE Turkey where it is sympatric with C. nivalis (Nadachowski, 1990b). Association of the overlooked appenninicus is discussed by Kryštufek (1997). Vertical distribution in Serbia and Montenegro documented by Kryštufek and Kovacic (1989); geographic variation within Austria and Serbia and Montenegro by Kryštufek (1990); distribution in Portugal, Spain and France and morphometric distinctions from regional Microtus by Madureira (1983). Chromosomal variation in Bulgarian populations reported by Peshev and Belcheva (1979); Zima et al. (1997a) documented karyotypes from a Macedonian population and reviewed chromosomal data from other geographic areas. Allozymic variation within N Italy and Israel suggests that the Israeli population from Mt Hermon (hermonis) is a separate species (Filippucci et al., 1991). Nadachowski (1992) analyzed dental patterns of Quaternary and extant populations to reconstruct timing and routes of past migrations; he also mapped the insular montane distribution from Spain to Iran, the scientific names applied to each segment, and Quaternary fossil sites. Although now absent from the British Isles, C. nivalis occurred in S England during the last Pleistocene glaciation (Kowalski, 1967; Nadachowski, 1991).

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Synonyms:

    abulensis (Agacino, 1936)
    aleco Paspalev, Martino, and Peshev, 1952
    alpinus (Wagner, 1843)
    appenninicus (Dal Piaz, 1929)
    aquitanius (Miller, 1908)
    cedrorum Spitzenberger, 1973
    dementievi (Heptner, 1939)
    hermonis (Miller, 1908)
    lebruni (Crespon, 1844)
    leucurus (Gerbe, 1852)
    loginovi (Ognev, 1950)
    malyi (Bolkay, 1925)
    mirhanreini (Schäfer, 1935)
    nivicola (Schinz, 1845)
    olympius (Neuhäuser, 1936)
    petrophilus (Wagner, 1853)
    pontius (Miller, 1908)
    radnensis (Ehik, 1942)
    satunini (Shidlovsky, 1919)
    spitzenbergerae Nadachowski, 1990
    trialeticus (Shidlovsky, 1919)
    ulpius (Miller, 1908)
    wagneri Martino, 1940

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