A New Subspecies of Meriones tristrami Thomas, 1892 (Rodentia: Gerbillinae) From Kilis (Southeastern Turkey): Meriones tristrami kilisensis subsp. N.

Authors: Nuri YİĞİT, Ercüment ÇOLAK

Abstract: In this study, seventeen specimens of Meriones tristrami from Kilis were compared with the specimens of Meriones tristrami bodenheimeri along with topotypes of Meriones tristrami lycaon close to those from Kilis. It was determined that the specimens from Kilis were distinguishable from M.t. lycaon by characters such as dorsal coloration, Tx100 / HB (ratio of tail length to head and body), zygomatic breadth, occipitonasal length, basal length, diastema length, occipital width, weight, baculum shape and fundamental number of chromosomes. Thus, the specimens of M. tristrami from Kilis were determined to be a new subspecies, Meriones tristrami kilisensis subps. n.

Keywords: Meriones tristrami kilisensis subsp. n., Turkey

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