phylogeography

About the Border between Two Phylogroups of the Common Hamster (Cricetus cricetus) (Cricetinae, Rodentia)

The Common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) is the rodent with one of the largest range (6 million km2). There were four phylogenetic lineages earlier recovered in Western Europe, Ukraine and Bryansk Province of Russia: “North”, “Рannonia”, E1 and E0. E1 was previously reported from South-Eastern Poland and Western Ukraine and never been found in sympatry with “Pannonia” although the closest distance between them was estimated as 20 km. The question is whether the sympatry of E1 and E0 phylogroups exists?

ON THE SPECIFIC COMPOSITION, DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY OF VOLES (MAMMALIA, CRICETIDAE, MICROTINA) IN THE NORTH-WESTERN CAUCASUS

Molecular-genetic typing was done for voles in the vicinity of the Pslukh forest station (the south of the Caucasus nature reserve), the Krasnaya Polyana, and the Utrish nature reserve (the Abrau peninsula). Based on the nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, the voles from the Krasnaya Polyana and Pslukh station were attributed to Robert’s snow vole (Chionomys roberti), whereas the animals from the Utrish nature reserve belong to the Eastern-European vole (Microtus rossiaemeridionalis).