Sandy blind mole-rat

The sandy blind mole-rat (Spalax arenarius) is an endangered species of rodent in the family Spalacidae. It is endemic to Ukraine.^[2] It was first identified by Evdokia Reshetnik in 1939.^[3]: 144

Sandy blind mole-rat
Spalax arenarius on a Ukrainian coin issued in 2005
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Spalacidae
Genus:	Spalax
Species:	S. arenarius
Binomial name
Spalax arenarius Reshetnik, 1939

Distribution and habitat

It is restricted to a very small region of southern Ukraine, on sandy habitats along the lower Dnieper River on the Black Sea coastal plain. It inhabits moderately wet, sandy soils with low subterranean waters, in steppes dominated by absinth-grass or absinth-spurge, with sparse vegetation otherwise. It does not inhabit dry feathergrass steppe or moving sands.^[1]

Burrow in Oleshky Sands National Nature Park

Status

Only about 15,000 to 20,000 mature individuals are thought to exist. The primary segment of the population inhabits the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve, and is thought to have a stable population trend. However, populations outside of this protected area are thought to be declining. The primary threat to this species is habitat conversion by the afforestation of the sandy soils for stabilization and wood production.^[1]

References

1. Tsytsulina, K. & Zagorodnyuk, I. (2008). "Spalax arenarius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T20428A9198777. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T20428A9198777.en. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
2. "Spalax arenarius Reshetnik, 1939". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
3. Korobchenko, Marina (December 2016). "Євдокія Решетник (1903–1996) — видатна постать в історії академічної зоології та екології в Україні" [Evdokia Reshetnyk (1903–1996) — An Outstanding Figure in the History of Academic Zoology and Ecology in Ukraine] (PDF). Proceedings of the National Museum of Natural History (in Ukrainian). 2016 (14). Kyiv, Ukraine: National Museum of Natural History at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine: 136–146. doi:10.15407/vnm.2016.14.136. ISSN 2219-7516. OCLC 8173121205. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.

• Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.