Transcaucasian mole vole

The Transcaucasian mole vole (Bramus lutescens) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.^[2]

Transcaucasian mole vole
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Arvicolinae
Genus:	Bramus
Species:	B. lutescens
Binomial name
Bramus lutescens (Thomas, 1897)

It is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Turkey.

Reproduction

Transcaucasian mole vole, they reproduce during the months of April to October, breeding in march-April and October-November, in which the females would gestate their young for 26 days( almost a month). After birth the pups of the Transcaucasian mole vole, they would stay with their mother for about two months. During the pups 1-4 week of their life it would be just feeding with their mother, and developing their motor functions and being able to be weaned off milk and be able to eat solid food. The final and fifth week the pups would be able to be weaned off the milk and eat vegetables by themselves  and be able to walk by themselves without difficulty.^[3]

Chromosomes

Female B. lutescens metaphase chromosome set

The karyotype has a low, odd, diploid number, 2n = 17,X.^[4] Transcaucasian mole voles have no SRY gene or Y chromosome; both sexes have an XO sex chromosome set, a state possibly derived from an ancestral population in which males had an XX sex chromosome set, like E. tancrei.^[2] Their sex-determination method remains unknown.^[4]

See also

• Zaisan mole vole
• Tokudaia osimensis
• Tokudaia tokunoshimensis

References

1. Kryštufek, B.; Shenbrot, G. (2016). "Ellobius lutescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T7655A22340006. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T7655A22340006.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
2. Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 975. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
3. KAYA, ALAETTİN (2015). "Reproduction, postnatal development, and social behavior of Ellobius lutescens Thomas, 1897 (Mammalia: Rodentia) in captivity". Turkish Journal of Zoology. 39 (3): 425–431. doi:10.3906/zoo-1401-73.
4. Bagheri-Fam, S; et al. (January 2012). "Sox9 gene regulation and the loss of the XY/XX sex-determining mechanism in the mole vole Ellobius lutescens". Chromosome Research. 20 (1): 191–9. doi:10.1007/s10577-011-9269-5. PMID 22215485.

^[1]

1. KAYA, ALAETTİN (2015). "Reproduction, postnatal development, and social behavior of Ellobius lutescens Thomas, 1897 (Mammalia: Rodentia) in captivity". Turkish Journal of Zoology. 39 (3): 425–431. doi:10.3906/zoo-1401-73.