Nordmann's birch mouse (Sicista loriger) is a species of birch mouse in the family Sminthidae.[2] It is named after Finnish biologist Alexander von Nordmann. It is native to eastern and southeastern Europe.
| Nordmann's birch mouse | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sminthidae |
| Genus: | Sicista |
| Species: | S. loriger
|
| Binomial name | |
| Sicista loriger (Nathusius, 1840)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Sicista nordmanni (Keyserling & Blasius, 1840) | |
Taxonomy
editIt was long thought to be a subspecies of the southern birch mouse (S. subtilis), but a 2016 study found sufficient genetic and anatomical divergence for it to be considered its own species.[3][4]
Distribution
editIt is restricted to the western portion of the Pontic–Caspian steppe, where it is known only from a few isolated populations in southern Ukraine, west Belgorod in Russia, and eastern Romania. In addition, it may potentially be found in Bulgaria and Moldova.[1]
Status
editThis species has a fragmented distribution due to its reliance on the largely developed steppe habitat. Populations in these fragmented regions also face ongoing threats from development and agriculture. Due to this, this species is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Kennerley, R.; Zagorodnyuk, I. & Cserkész, T. (2017). "Sicista loriger". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T110500058A175618666. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T110500058A175618666.en.
- ^ "Sicista loriger (Nathusius, 1840)". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ Cserkész, Tamás; Rusin, Mikhail; Sramkó, Gábor (2016). "An integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group)". Mammal Review. 46 (2): 114–130. doi:10.1111/mam.12058. ISSN 1365-2907.
- ^ Lebedev, Vladimir; Poplavskaya, Natalia; Bannikova, Anna; Rusin, Mikhail; Surov, Alexey; Kovalskaya, Yulia (2020-03-01). "Genetic variation in the Sicista subtilis (Pallas, 1773) species group (Rodentia, Sminthidae), as compared to karyotype differentiation". Mammalia. 84 (2): 185–194. doi:10.1515/mammalia-2018-0216. ISSN 1864-1547. S2CID 202024134.