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Received: 22.01.2018 Corresponding editor: J. Decher
Accepted: 16.04.2018
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 May 2018
INTRODUCTION
Moles (family Talpidae, Lipotyphla) are widespread
in temperate Eurasia, North America, and in Oriental
Southeast Asia. The majority of species has adapted to
a subterranean mode of life and displays convergent
morphologies. Interspecic differences are usually slight
and further obscured by morphologic plasticity. The tra-
ditional approach towards mole taxonomy, based solely
on cranial and dental traits, frustrated early students and
posed a long-lasting source of dispute and disagreement
over a number of genera and species. Since 1758, when
Linneaus named the rst mole species (Linnaeus 1758),
about 180 species group names accumulated (Hutterer
2005) for over 50 currently valid species. In the past, the
authors disagreed which of these names were valid and
which were to be considered of subspecic value or just
synonyms. For example, Schwarz (1948) synonymized
ve currently valid generic names from Asia with Talpa,
and reduced the number of Eurasian fossorial moles to
merely six species; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1951)
further condensed these to four species in two genera.
Despite obvious taxonomic problems with moles, mo-
lecular tools were employed in talpid systematics rela-
tively late (Colangelo et al. 2010; Bannikova et al. 2015;
Feuda et al. 2015; He et al. 2016). It became immediately
clear how incomplete our alpha taxonomic knowledge of
the Eurasian moles was. He et al. (2016) proposed that
talpid species richness is underestimated by nearly one
third. Although the majority of these undescribed species
occupy mountain areas in southern China, several cryp-
tic species were recently found also in the genus Talpa
in Europe (Nicolas et al. 2017a) and south-western Asia
(Bannikova et al. 2015).
In this paper we utilized molecular evidence in assess-
ing the taxonomic status of small blind moles along the
south-western Black Sea coast, specically in Thrace of
Bulgaria and European Turkey. Osborn (1964) was the
rst to realize that the region features two distinct mole
species, a larger T. europaea, which is widespread in Eu-
rope, and a smaller one, which he took for T. caeca. In
Osborn’s times, T. caeca contained small blind moles of
southern Europe, northern Anatolia, and the Caucasus
(Ellerman & Morrison-Scott 1951, Grulich 1972), which
are currently classied as distinct species (T. davidiana,
T. levantis, T. occidentalis; Hutterer 2005). Doğramacı
(1988, 1989c) applied the epithet levantis (T. caeca le-
vantis) for small moles of Thrace and northern Anato-
lia. Following Pavlinov & Rossolimo (1987), Vohralík
(1991) and Kefelioğlu & Gençoğlu (1996) accepted T.
levantis as a species on its own right specically for the
European populations. As a result, four mole species are
reported for south-east Europe (the Balkan Peninsula):
T. europaea in the north and east, T. caeca and T. stan-
kovici in the south-west, and T. levantis in the south-east
(Hutterer 2005).
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Specimens. We studied 14 individuals of T. martino-
rum n. sp. (see below) and comparative material of 244
Abstract. We utilized 1084 bp sequences of the cytochrome b gene to assess the taxonomic status of small blind moles
from eastern Thrace in Bulgaria and European Turkey. So far, these moles were classied either as Talpa caeca or as T. le-
vantis. Our study showed them to be genetically closer to T. europaea, T. aquitania, and T. occidentalis, albeit not being
part of any of these species. We describe them as a new species, Talpa martinorum. n. sp. The new species differs from
T. europaea, another mole occupying Thrace, by having a sealed palpebral ssure and a 1st upper molar with no parastyle,
and by being smaller. The contemporary distribution range of T. martinorum n. sp. is small and restricted to the Black Sea
coast between Burgas (Bulgaria) and Istanbul (Turkey). The species name is an eponym to the married couple Vladimir
and Evgeniya Martino, two early students of Balkan mammals.
Key words. Balkans, cytochrome b, cryptic species, species delimitation, Talpa martinorum n. sp.
News from the Balkan refugium: Thrace has an endemic mole species
(Mammalia: Talpidae)
Boris Kryštufek1*, Nedko Nedyalkov2, Jonas J. Astrin3 & Rainer Hutterer3
1Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Prešernova 20, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
2National Museum of Natural History, 1 Tzar Osvoboditel Blvd., BG-1000 Soa, Bulgaria
3Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Leibniz-Institut für Biodiversität der Tiere, Adenauerallee 160, D-53113
Bonn, Germany
*Corresponding author. E-mail: bkrystufek@pms-lj.si
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
Boris Kryštufek et al.42
museum vouchers belonging to 11 species of Talpa (Ap-
pendix 1). Individuals of T. martinorum n. sp. were col-
lected in Bulgaria in 2011 (one individual) and 2017 (the
remaining 13). External measurements were scored be-
fore skinning to the nearest 0.1 mm (hind foot) or 1 mm
(the rest): length of head and body (from snout tip to
anus), length of tail (from anus to tail tip with exclusion
of terminal hairs) and length of hind foot (without claws).
Body mass was recorded to the nearest 0.5 grams. We
examined the palpebral ssure using a 10x magnifying
glass and photographed each mole captured in 2017. In
part the individuals were immersed in ethanol and the rest
were processed following standard mammalogical proce-
dures (Kryštufek & Vohralík 2001). Skins were mounted
on cardboard (carded skins) while skulls and postcranial
skeletons were preserved in 95% ethanol, dried subse-
quently and cleaned by Dermestes beetles. Tissue sam-
ples for DNA analysis were placed in non-denaturated
96% ethanol and subsequently refrigerated. All eld pro-
cedures involving handling of animals in this study were
in compliance with guidelines approved by the American
Society of Mammalogists (Sikes et al. 2011).
Molecular analysis. The cytochrome b (Cyt b) gene
was sequenced for eight specimens of the new species.
These sequences were analyzed together with 23 addi-
tional Talpa sequences (within 13 species), and three
outgroup Talpinae sequences (Urotrichus talpoides, Eu-
roscaptor parvidens and Euroscaptor klossi), all down-
loaded from GenBank. Collecting data for the new se-
quences and all GenBank numbers are given in Appendix
2.
For the new specimens, total genomic DNA was ex-
tracted from ethanol-preserved muscle tissue using sil-
ica membrane columns of the Blood and Tissue kit by
Qiagen (Hilden, Germany). DNA extracts are available
from the ZFMK Biobank, Bonn (DNA voucher IDs are
listed in Appendix 2). For PCR amplications, we used
the Qiagen Multiplex PCR kit, following the manufac-
turer’s specications and based on 2 µl undiluted DNA
template in 20µl total reaction volumes. DNA fragments
of 1084 bp were amplied with an Applied Biosystems
GeneAmp PCR System 2700 (Life Technologies), apply-
ing the primers L14724ag (5’-ATGATATGAAAAAC-
CATCGTTG-3’) and H15915ag (5’-TTTCCNTTTCTG-
GTTTACAAGAC-3’) (Guillén-Servent & Francis 2006).
PCR routine followed a ‘touch-down’ protocol: Taq ac-
tivation: 15 min at 95°C; rst cycle set (15 repeats): 35 s
denaturation at 94°C, 90 s annealing at 60°C (−1°C per
cycle) and 90 s extension at 72°C. Second cycle set (25
repeats): 35 s denaturation at 94°C, 90 s annealing at
50°C, and 90 s extension at 72°C.
After enzymatic cleanup, all PCR products were
Sanger-sequenced at Macrogen Europe’s commercial
Sanger sequencing service (Amsterdam, NL). Sequences
were assembled, inspected and aligned using Geneious
vers. R7 (Biomatters, Auckland, New Zealand).
The Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree was inferred with
RAxML-HPC vers. 8.1.24 (Stamatakis 2014). For the
ML search, a GTR+Γ model of sequence evolution was
applied following the program recommendations. The
dataset was partitioned to treat 3rd codon positions sep-
arately from 1st and 2nd positions. The analysis used the
“-f a” option (bootstrap analysis and search for best-scor-
ing ML tree in one program run) and included 100,000
bootstrap replicates. Nodes with a bootstrap support of
50 or below were collapsed. To comparatively assess the
topology delivered by the ML reconstruction, a Bayesian
analysis was run for 5 million generations (assuming a
GTR+Γ model and unlinking 3rd positions) in MrBayes
vers. 3.2 (Ronquist & Huelsenbeck 2003), but results
were very similar and hence not shown in a separate il-
lustration.
Morphological analysis. Our study was based on
visual examination of museum specimens, both mac-
roscopically and under a stereomicroscope at different
magnications. Museum vouchers (skins, skulls and
occasionally postcranial skeletons) are deposited in the
following collections (acronym in parentheses): Field
Museum of Natural History, Chicago (FMNH), National
Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo (ZMBiH),
National Museum of Natural History, Washington D. C.
(NMNH), National Museum of Natural History Soa
(NMNHS), Natural History Museum London (NHML),
Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna (NMW), Mu-
seum Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (MNHN),
Mammal Collection in the Ondokuz Mayıs University,
Samsun, Turkey (OMU), Slovenian Museum of Natural
History, Ljubljana (PMS), Zoologisches Forschungsmu-
seum Alexander Koenig, Bonn (ZFMK), and Zoological
Institute and Zoological Museum, Russian Academy of
Sciences, St. Petersburg (ZIN). Vouchers in ZFMK and
PMS were directly compared to T. martinorum n. sp..
Material from the remaining collections was examined
by BK prior to this study and records were compiled to
contain measurement data, drawings and photographs.
Skull morphology was quantied using a set of six cra-
nial variables which were scored using a Vernier caliper
with accuracy to the nearest 0.1 mm (acronyms in pa-
rentheses): condylobasal length of skull (CbL), length of
maxillary tooth row (MxT; canine to 3rd molar), breadth
of braincase (BcB), height of braincase (BcH; bullae
excluded), breadth of rostrum over canines (RoC), and
breadth of rostrum over molars (RoM). We also mea-
sured the pelvis (greatest length and greatest anterior
breadth) and the humerus (length and width). Length and
width of 3rd upper molar were scored under a dissecting
microscope tted with an eyepiece graticule. Three mor-
photypes of the pelvis (sensu Grulich 1971, Popov &
Miltchev 2001) were distinguished: (i) the caecoid mor-
photype lacked a bony anastomosis between the os sa-
crum and the os ischii posterior to the 4th foramen sacrale;
(ii) the europaeoid morphotype had a well-developed and
New mole from Thrace
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
43
ossied anastomosis and a closed 4th foramen sacrale;
(iii) in the intermediate morphotype, the foramen was
closed, the anastomosis, however, was thin and narrow,
and the ischio-sacrale suture was not ossied.
Heterogeneity between samples was assessed in one-
way analysis of variance (Anova). To characterize the
craniometric variation among species of moles and to
nd patterns in our high-dimensional data, we used prin-
cipal components analysis (PCA), which was performed
on the correlation matrix of log10-transformed cranial
variables. The resulting principal components (PCs) are
linearly uncorrelated; therefore, each PC measures dif-
ferent ‘dimensions’ of the original dataset. The rst PC
(PC1) is responsible for the largest possible variance and
acts in morphometrics as a size vector (Kryštufek et al.
2015). Rates of correct classication of a priori dened
species were evaluated by discriminant analysis (DA). To
evaluate the performance of the DA and avoid the risk
of overtting the data, all analyses were cross-validated
using the jackknife procedure, in which each specimen
is classied into a group using the discriminant function
derived from all specimens except the specimen being
classied. Statistical tests were run in Statistica 7.0 (Stat-
Soft Inc., OK, USA) and SPSS Statistics 2012 (IBM
Analytics, NY).
RESULTS
Molecular results. Sequencing of the eight samples re-
sulted in a single haplotype, with the exception of one
alignment position (pos. 215) with ambiguous informa-
tion (‘N’) in 3 sequences. No stop-codon insertions or
deletions were observed in the alignment.
In the ML tree, our new samples of T. martinorum n.
sp. clustered with T. europaea, T. aquitania, and T. oc-
cidentalis into a weakly supported clade (Fig. 1). The
Bayesian analysis includes also T. romana and T. caeca
in this cluster. Above species level, the ML branching pat-
tern was poorly supported (the very similar topology in
MrBayes had higher support values – but see Douady et
al. (2003), among others, on potentially misleading high
posterior probability values). Therefore the tree topology
offers only a meagre idea on phylogenetic relationships
among species. At species level however, support values
are usually much higher: the new species T. martinorum
is recovered as monophyletic with maximal bootstrap
support. Also the genetic metrics show that T. martino-
rum n. sp. is clearly separated from all other moles: the
closest genetic matches to T. martinorum n. sp. were T.
europaea and T. occidentalis with p-distances of more
than 9% (i.e., distances well above the typical intraspecif-
ic range, see below). Maximal interspecic distances for
T. martinorum n. sp. were registered towards T. altaica
and T. talyschensis (both ca. 14%). Minimal interspecic
distances among all Talpa species in the dataset were ca.
8%, maximal distances 15%. Intraspecic p-distances in
T. martinorum n. sp. were 0.0 to 0.1% (the 0.1% diver-
gence created through the position mentioned above),
0.4 to 1.9% in T. europaea, 2.6% in T. aquitania, 1.8%
in T. ognevi, and 0.4 to 6.9% in T. stankovici. Conspicu-
ously high distances within T. stankovici result from the
inclusion of genetically highly divergent Greek popula-
tions (from Gravia and Chelmos; see Tryfonopoulos et
al. 2010). The two specimens representing the two sub-
species of T. levantis (i.e., T. levantis levantis and T. le-
vantis minima) were separated by a distance of 7.5%.
Morphometric results. Secondary sexual dimorphism
in size (SSD) is usually obvious in the genus Talpa
(Niethammer & Krapp 1990). Our sample from Thrace
contained nine males and four females, of which nine
were clean skulls. We therefore tested SSD only on the
external measurements. One-way analysis of variance
detected signicant heterogeneity between sexes only
in length of hind foot (F=9.45, p=0.012) with males at-
taining a higher mean (17.21±0.204 mm) than females
(16.13±0.289 mm). Since the remaining external traits
showed no signicant SSD (F<2.8, p>0.12), we pooled
the sexes.
All cranial measurements retrieved highly signicant
interspecic heterogeneity (F>18, p<0.001) with highest
F-values (F>30) for length of skull and breadth of ros-
trum. To visualize morphometric distances and similar-
ity between species we ran PCA on 187 complete skulls
belonging to 11 species. Talpa caucasica was excluded
because the available skulls were damaged. The rst
two principal components (PC1 and PC2) in concert
explained 87.7% of the variance in the original data set
and were used to display morphometric relationships be-
tween species (Fig. 2). PC1 had high positive loadings
for all measurements and sorted moles according to their
overall size, from the smallest (negative scores on the left
hand side of the PC1 axis) to the largest (positive scores
on the right hand side of the axis). PC2 arranged moles
in respect to breadth of rostrum over molars. Moles with
high PC2 loadings had a broad rostrum and vice versa.
There was considerable overlap in the centre of the plot
between T. martinorum n. sp., T. levantis, T. talyschen-
sis, T. occidentalis, and the larger individuals of T. caeca.
Talpa europaea was well characterized by a combination
of large skull size and relatively narrow rostrum; T. aqui-
tania was less variable than T. europaea and on average
had a narrower rostrum. The rostrum was most robust in
T. stankovici and T. davidiana; T. romana was transitional
in this respect towards T. europaea. Talpa caeca attained
smaller dimensions than any other mole in our analysis.
Noteworthy, all principal components showed signicant
heterogeneity between species (F>2.5, p<0.072).
Discriminant analysis performed on the same matrix
of log10-transformed cranial variables (Wilks’ λ = 0.0248,
F = 14.408, p<0.0001) classied 65.6% (cross-validat-
ed 56.8%) of specimens to the correct species. All pair-
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
Boris Kryštufek et al.44
Fig. 1. Maximum likelihood tree inferred from 1084 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene for 14 species of the genus Talpa.
Bootstrap values are shown on the nodes. The tree is rooted with Urotrichus talpoides, Euroscaptor parvidens and Euroscaptor
klossi.
New mole from Thrace
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
45
wise-squared Mahalanobis distances (D2) were signi-
cant except two (T. talyschensis against T. occidentalis
and T. martinorum n. sp., respectively). Pairwise D2 dis-
tances with T. martinorum n. sp. (mean±standard error
= 10.72±5.56) were low in comparison to the remaining
pairwise distances (20.21.87±2.62), the difference how-
ever was not signicant (F=3.28, p=0.076).
A new mole species from Thrace
Talpa martinorum n. sp. (Figs. 3, 4, 5a, 6a)
Holotype and type locality. Skin mounted on cardboard,
skull, postcranial skeleton, and tissue sample in ethanol
of a young adult female (ZFMK-MAM-2017.1149; tis-
sue: ZFMK-TIS-23035), collected by B. Kryštufek and
N. Nedyalkov on 27.04.2017 (eld No. BG8) on the edge
of a meadow near Zvezdets, Mt. Strandzha, Bulgaria.
DNA of this specimen has been deposited (ZFMK-DNA-
FC19476469) and the Cytochrome b sequence is avail-
able from GenBank (Accession number MH093593).
Measurements of holotype. Body mass 45 g, head
and body 124 mm, tail 24 mm, hindfoot length 16.4 mm,
condylobasal length of skull 30.4 mm, maxillary tooth
row 11.6 mm, breadth of braincase 15.2 mm, height of
braincase 9.2 mm, breadth of rostrum over canines 4.1
mm, breadth of rostrum over molars 8.3 mm, length of
humerus 14.1 mm, width of humerus 9.7 mm, greatest
length of pelvis 22.1 mm, breadth of pelvis 7.5 mm.
Fig. 2. Projection of group centroids (upper case letters) onto the two principal components (PCs) resulting from principal compo-
nents analysis of six log10-transformed cranial variables (percentage of variance explained by each component is in parentheses)
of 10 Talpa species. Ellipses are 95% condence limits of the dispersion in each species except T. martinorum n. sp. (specimens
shown by triangles), T. altaica (squares) and T. talyschensis (only group centroid is shown). Area inside the ellipses for T. aquitania,
T. europaea and T. occidentalis are shaded grey. The character vector diagram illustrates the relative contribution of the original
variables (see text for acronyms) to the principal components. Abbreviations for centroids: A – T. aquitania, C – T. caeca, D – T.
davidiana, E – T. europaea, L – T. levantis, O – T. occidentalis, R – T. romana, S – T. stankovici.
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
Boris Kryštufek et al.46
Diagnosis. A member of the subgenus Talpa. Me-
dium-sized species with palpebral ssure sealed by a
transparent skin (Fig. 3a). First upper molar (M1) lacks
parastyle (Fig. 6a); the mesostyle is indistinctly bifur-
cate (Fig. 6a). Pairwise interspecic p-distances (> 9%)
are within the range observed between other species of
moles (e.g., within Talpa, interspecic distances average
ca. 12%).
Paratypes. Skins, skulls, postcranial skeletons, tissue
samples in ethanol and isolated DNA; voucher NMNHS
1053 is represented by a skull and a tissue sample, and
vouchers NMNHS 1049–1052 are submerged in ethanol.
Specimens were collected on Mt. Strandzha, Bulgaria: Ve-
lika, 1 female, collected on 23.09.2011 by N. Nedyalkov
(NMNHS 1053), 1 female, collected on 01.05.2017 by
N. Nedyalkov & B. Kryštufek (PMS 25631); Gramatiko-
vo, 2 males, collected on 25.04.2017 by N. Nedyalkov &
B. Kryštufek (NMNHS 1047, 1048); Vizitsa, 1 male, col-
lected on 27.04.2017 by N. Nedyalkov & B. Kryštufek
(ZFMK-MAM-2017.1150); Kondolovo, 1 male, col-
lected on 28.04.2017 by N. Nedyalkov & B. Kryštufek
(ZFMK-MAM-2017.1151); Fazanovo, 1 male, collected
on 30.042017 by N. Nedyalkov & B. Kryštufek (ZFMK-
MAM-2017.1152); Pismenovo, 1 male, 1 female, col-
lected on 01.05.2017 by N. Nedyalkov & B. Kryštufek
(PMS 25632, 25633); Chengene skele, Burgas, 1 male,
1 female, collected on 19.11.2017 by Nedko Nedyalkov
(NMNHS 1049, 1050), Uzungeren, Burgas, 2 males,
collected on 19.11.2017 by Nedko Nedyalkov (NMNHS
1051, 1052). Paratype voucher numbers for ethanol-xed
tissue samples (ZFMK-TIS-23033 to -23037 and ZFMK-
TIS-33755 to -33758), and for extracted DNA are given
in Appendix 2.
Measurements of paratypes. Reported are mean±-
standard deviation (minimum–maximum, sample size).
Linear measurements are in mm, body mass in grams.
Body mass 58.31±4.06 (52.5–65, 8), head and body
126.75±3.196 (124–134, 8), tail 27.88±3.137 (24–32, 8),
hind foot 16.91±0.861 (15.0–17.4, 7), condylobasal
length of skull 31.80±0.747 (30.3–33.1, 9), maxillary
tooth row 12.07±0.224 (11.8–12.4, 9), breadth of brain-
case 15.47±0.300 (14.9–15.9, 9), height of braincase
9.028±0.323 (8.6–9.5, 9), breadth of rostrum over ca-
nines 4.41±0.088 (4.3–4.5, 9), breadth of rostrum over
molars 8.50±0.158 (8.3–8.8, 9), greatest length of pelvis
23.98±0.564 (23.3–24.7, 6), breadth of pelvis 7.82±0.366
(7.4–8.3, 6), length of humerus 13.93±0.186 (13.7–
14.2, 6), width of humerus 10.42±0.132 (10.2–10.6, 6).
Description. Talpa martinorum n. sp. is of about the
same external appearance and body proportions as T. eu-
ropaea (Miller 1912). The tail is rather short (18–26%
of head and body length) and densely covered by up to
6.5 mm long bristles (Fig. 3c). Pelage is dense and vel-
vety, 7.0–8.0 mm long on the back, 4.5–6.0 mm ventrally.
Fur is blackish dorsally and slightly lighter and with slate
shades ventrally. A skin PMS 25632 has an irregular buff
strike (21 mm long and up to 3.5 mm wide) on the poste-
rior abdomen. Hairs around the eye are short and lighter,
whitish or buff. The tip of the snout is pink to grey, cov-
ered by short hairs. There is a reverse triangle of bare
skin behind the rhinarium. The tail is usually blackish.
Fore foot is 12.6–14.3 mm broad. The skull (Fig. 4, 5a)
shows no peculiarities and is of average size and shape
overall. Rostrum is moderately robust; width across the
canines accounts for 13.3–14.5% and across the molars
for 25.4–27.7% of condylobasal length. Maxillary tooth
Fig. 3. Head (a) in lateral view, tip of nose (b) in dorsal (left) and ventral (right) views, and ventral side of tail in Talpa martinorum
n. sp. Note that the palpebral ssure is covered by transparent skin (a). Museum vouchers PMS 25631 (a), ZFMK 2017.1152 (b)
and ZFMK 2017.1151 (c). Not to scale.
New mole from Thrace
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
47
Fig. 4. Skull and mandible of the type specimen of Talpa martinorum sp. n. ZFMK 2017.1149. Scale bar = 5 mm.
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
Boris Kryštufek et al.48
row equals to 37.3–38.9% of condylobasal length. The
braincase is rather deep and the height of neurocranium
makes up 26.9–30.3% of condylobasal length. The pos-
terior margin of palatine is usually anterior to the imagi-
nary line connecting the posterior alveolar margins of 3rd
upper molars, and the anterior border of the infraorbital
foramen is above the 2nd upper molar (Fig. 4).
All three morphotypes of the pelvis were recorded in
T. martinorum n. sp. The most frequent is the interme-
diate morphotype (n=13; own material combined with
data in Popov & Milchev 2001), followed by the cae-
Fig. 5. Ventral cranium of species of Talpa: (a) T. martinorum n. sp. ZFMK 2017.1149 (greatest length of skull = 31.2 mm), (b)
T. europaea ZFMK 2014.748 (35.8 mm), (c) T. aquitania ZFMK 2005.194 (35.6 mm), (d) T. occidentalis ZFMK 2005.301 (33.4
mm), (e) T. romana ZFMK 66.304 (37.7 mm), (f) T. caeca ZFMK 2005.268 (31.2 mm), (g) T. stankovici ZFMK 98.709 (34.1 mm),
(h) T. levantis PMS 21658 (30.8 mm).
New mole from Thrace
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
49
coidal morphotype (n=10) and the europaeoid morpho-
type (n=2). The sezamoidal os falciformis is robust in its
proximal part.
Incisors are of decreasing size with 1st incisor being
nearly twice as large as 3rd incisor, which is the smallest.
The molars are robust, and the 3rd molar is particularly
large. The 1st upper molar entirely lacks the parastyle
(Fig. 6a). The 1st lower premolar has a prominent distal
cusp; the 4th lower premolar lacks metaconid, and the 3rd
lower molar is always without hypoconulid while the en-
tocristid is present only exceptionally. Oligodonties were
present on three skulls out of nine studied: both 1st upper
premolars are missing in ZFMK-MAM-2017.1150, left
1st upper premolar is missing in PMS 25632, and left 1st
upper and 2nd lower premolars are missing in PMS 25631.
Comparison. Morphologically, T. altaica (subgenus
Asioscalopus) is peculiar by its large size, short tail, slim
skull (Fig. 2) and weak dentition with a reduced 1st upper
molar (Stroganov 1957; Zaytsev et al. 2014). Differenc-
es between Asioscalopus and the subgenus Talpa are so
obvious that no comparison with T. martinorum n. sp. is
required.
In Thrace, T. martinorum n. sp. can be safely differen-
tiated from T. europaea by (i) a sealed palpebral ssure
(open in T. europaea), (ii) absence of parastyle on 1st upper
molar (present in T. europaea; Fig. 6b), and (iii) smaller
size. Ranges for the two species overlap only marginally;
dimensions of T. europaea are from Thrace in Bulgaria
and Turkey (Osborn 1964; Doğramacı 1989a,b; Vohralík
1991; Popov & Miltchev 2001): body mass (in grams)
43–65 in T. martinorum n. sp. (own material and data in
Doğramacı 1988) vs. 60–105 in T. europaea; condylobas-
al length (in mm) 29.3–33.1 in T. martinorum n. sp. (own
material and data in Osborn 1964; Doğramacı 1988; Pop-
ov & Miltchev 2001) vs. 32.4–37.0 in T. europaea; length
of pelvis (in mm) 21.5–25.0 in T. martinorum n. sp. (own
material and data in Doğramacı 1989b; Vohralík 1991;
Popov & Miltchev 2001) vs. 24.9–30.1 in T. europaea;
length of humerus (in mm) 12.9–14.9 in T. martinorum
n. sp. (own material and data in Vohralík 1991; Popov
& Miltchev 2001) vs. 14.5–17.8 in T. europaea. Molars
Fig. 6. Lateral view of left upper molar in species of Talpa: (a) T. martinorum n. sp. ZFMK 2017.1149, (b) T. europaea ZFMK
2007.006, (c) T. aquitania ZFMK 2005.160, (d) T. occidentalis ZFMK 2005.303, (e) T. romana ZFMK 1972.202, (f) T. caeca
ZFMK 1966.310, (g) T. stankovici ZFMK 2005.326, (h) T. levantis PMS 10650. Anterior is to the left. Not to scale. 1 – parastyle,
2 – paracone, 3 – mesostyle, 4 – protocone. Note that the parastyle is missing in T. martinorum sp. n. (1*).
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
Boris Kryštufek et al.50
are relatively larger in T. martinorum n. sp. (dimensions
of 3rd upper molar: 1.46–1.61 × 1.96–2.17 mm) than in
T. europaea (1.29–1.59 × 1.77–2.24 mm; specimens
from various parts of Europe). Pelvis in T. europaea is
either europaeoidal or intermediate but never caecoidal
(Petrov 1971b; Popov & Miltchev 2001).
Talpa martinorum n. sp. is well characterized by the ab-
sence of a parastyle on the 1st upper molar (Fig. 6a). Para-
style is present in the majority of species of Talpa, spe-
cically in T. europaea (Fig. 6b), T. aquitania (Fig. 6c),
T. occidentalis (Fig. 6d), T. caeca (Fig. 6f), T. stankovici
(Fig. 6g), T. levantis (Fig. 6h), T. davidiana, T. talyschen-
sis, and T. caucasica. Talpa romana, which clearly lacks
the parastyle (Fig. 6e), can be reliably differentiated from
T. martinorum n. sp. by the robust rostrum (Fig. 5e) and
large 3rd upper molar (1.67–2.20 × 1.87–2.72 mm).
Talpa martinorum n. sp. can be unambiguously set
apart from all the remaining species of the genus Talpa
by the nucleotide sequence of the Cyt b gene.
Distribution. The distribution range of T. martinorum
n. sp. extends along the south-western Black Sea coast
from Burgas in Bulgaria to Istanbul in European Tur-
key, covering Mt. Strandzha (also Strandja in Bulgari-
an; Istranca in Turkish) in Bulgaria and Turkey, and the
forested coastal belt between the southern foothills of
Mt. Istranca and the city of Istanbul (Fig. 7). Records
Fig. 7. Records of Talpa martinorum n. sp. in Bulgaria (BG) and Turkey (TR). Localities with known mitochondrial genetic identity
are shown as black circles. Elevation is parenthesized. Legend: 1 – BG, Mt. Strandzha, Zvezdets (295 m); 2 – BG, Mt. Strandzha,
Gramatikovo (210 m); 3 – BG, Mt. Strandzha, Vizitsa (274 m); 4 – BG, Mt. Strandzha, Kondolovo (298 m); 5– BG, Mt. Strandzha,
Fazanovo (106 m); 6 – BG, Mt. Strandzha, Velika (54 m); 7 – BG, Mt. Strandzha, Pismenovo (9 m); 8 – BG, Sozopol (50 m); 9 –
BG, Burgas, Chengene skele (sea level); 10 – BG, Burgas, Tvarditsa, Uzungeren (4 m); 11 – BG, Valchanovo (300 m); 12 – BG,
Tsarevo (40 m); 13 – BG, Lopushna Reserve (250 m); 14 – BG, Sinemorets, Silistar (40 m); 15 – TR, Kırklareli, Dereköy; 16 – TR,
Kırklareli, Demirköy; 17 – TR, Kırklareli, Pınarhisar; 18 – TR, Subaşi; 19 – TR, Kagithane Dere; 20 – TR, Rumeli Hisar; 21 – TR,
Bahçeköy. Corresponding references: localities 1–7, 9, 10, 12: own data; 8: Vohralík (1991); 11, 13, 14: Popov & Miltchev (2001);
15–17, 21: Doğramacı (1988); 18 – Collection H. Vierhaus (ZFMK); 19, 20 – NMNH. Localities with no numbers are unspecied
in Popov & Miltchev (2001). Museum vouchers from the localities 18–20 are labelled as T. caeca; published records were classied
as T. caeca levantis (pts. 15–17) or T. levantis (the remaining).
New mole from Thrace
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
51
associated with published Cyt b sequences are all from
Strandzha in Bulgaria. Talpa martinorum n. sp. is para-
patric or allopatric with respect to T. europaea which is
widespread in the lowlands further west. For the distribu-
tion range of T. europaea see Osborn (1964), Doğramacı
(1989a), Vohralík (1991), and Popov & Miltchev (2001).
The identity of small blind moles on the Asiatic side
of the Bosporus strait (Osborn 1964) is not known. All
moles from north-western Anatolia sequenced so far have
the molecular prole of T. levantis (vicinity of Zongul-
dak; Bannikova et al. 2015) and show a distinct parastyle
on 1st upper molar (vicinity of Bolu and Bursa).
Habitat. Talpa martinorum n. sp. is a fossorial mole of
similar habitat requirements as other species of the sub-
genus Talpa (cf. Niethammer & Krapp 1990). Character-
istic mounds of unearthed soil (molehills) are a common
feature in Mt. Strandzha. Specimens were captured in me-
sic meadows, pastures and orchards on deep medium-tex-
tured and well-drained soils (zheltozem and cinnamonic
forest soils; Shishkov & Kolev 2014) in hilly regions, on
the edges of arable land and on abandoned elds, in light
black soil on low alluvial plains, in oak woodland and
forests of river oodplains (own data as well as Osborn
1964 and Popov & Miltchev 2001). Altitudinal range is
from near sea level up to at least 445 m.
Etymology. Talpa martinorum n. sp. is an eponym
to Vladimir Emmanuilovich Martino (Владимир
Эммануилович Мартино, 1888–1961) and Evgeni-
ya Veniaminovna Martino (Евгения Вениаминовнa
Мартино, 1894–1979) née Stepanova (Степановa),
ethnic Russians who in 1920 escaped the October Rev-
olution by emigrating to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats
and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia since 1929). In
politically insecure and frequently violent Eastern Eu-
rope of the 20th century, the Martinos were refugees for
more than three decades. In 1949 they moved to Bulgaria
and in 1955 returned to Russia (at that time still Soviet
Union). Inspired by G. S. Miller’s (1912) “Catalogue of
the Mammals of Western Europe” they initiated mam-
mal research in south-eastern Europe and named, among
others, two Balkan endemics: Dinaromys bogdanovi (V.
Martino & E. Martino, 1922) (Martino & Martino 1922:
413) and Talpa stankovici V. Martino & E. Martino, 1931
(Martino & Martino 1931: 53) (Fig. 8). While Vladimir
had a degree in Biology from the University in Novoros-
siysk (1913), Evgeniya had no formal academic educa-
tion. Despite this, she attained competency in mammal-
ogy and successfully collaborated with her spouse, both
in the eld and cabinet. Although they published several
joint papers (as V. and E. Martino), the contribution by
Evgeniya is mainly ignored and she is nearly anonymous
today (cf. Beolens et al. 2009). At least nine subspecif-
ic names for mammals with the epithet martinoi (see
Appendix 3) were proposed by mammalogists between
1935 and 1971, and all are eponyms to Vladimir Marti-
no. With the name martinorum n. sp. we stress the equal
share by Evgeniya in the tandem “V. et E. Martino” and
correct the injustice done to her contribution in the past
decades. Along with Dorothea Bate (1878–1951) and Ga-
briele Neuhäuser (1911–1998) Evgeniya was one of the
early women who studied the taxonomy of Palaearctic
mammals already between the two great wars. In addi-
tion to their publications, a renowned legacy of Vladimir
and Evgeniya Martino is their meticulously prepared and
carefully labelled mammal collection, deposited primar-
ily in the Natural History Museum London and the Zo-
ological Institute and Museum of the Russian Academy
of Sciences in St. Petersburg. For biographies of Vlad-
imir Martino, see Mezentsev (1961), Paspalev (1962),
Pusanov (1962), Zimmermann (1962), Gus’kov (1965),
Taranenko (1999), and Boreiko (2001).
DISCUSSION
During the Pleistocene climatic changes over the last ca.
2.6 My, temperate species have endured glacial maxima
in geographically restricted refugial areas. A legacy of
the repeated extinctions of northern populations on the
one hand, and the long-term persistence in southern refu-
gia on the other hand is a number of taxa with restricted
Fig. 8. Vladimir and Evgeniya Martino near their home in
Topčidersko Brdo (part of the city of Belgrade), Serbia, in early
1930s. Courtesy by Georgy Bakhtadze.
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
Boris Kryštufek et al.52
distributions in the former glacial refugia (Hewitt 2000).
Contemporary biogeographic pattern of the genus Talpa
obviously results from the allopatric evolution in such
constrained refugia. Only two mole species (T. altaica
and T. europaea) have extensive distribution ranges in
temperate and southern boreal regions of Europe and
western Asia, while the remaining ten or so species oc-
cupy small areas along the southern edge of the distribu-
tion range of the genus (Bannikova et al. 2015). The new
species from Thrace, with its small distribution range, is
therefore well nested within a broader biogeographic pat-
tern of the western Palaearctic.
Mammals endemic to the Balkan Peninsula, which in-
clude a mole T. stankovici and several rodents, are re-
stricted to the topographically rough south-west Balkans
(Kryštufek 2004). Talpa martinorum n. sp. therefore
provides the rst evidence on speciation of a mammal
in the extreme eastern part of the peninsula. Besides, our
new evidence also corroborates an earlier assumption on
the persistence of multiple independent refugia inside the
topographically complex Balkan refugium (cf. Kryštufek
et al. 2007).
The new species shows no close phylogenetic links
with the Balkan endemic T. stankovici nor with the Bal-
kan-Italian T. caeca. Instead, T. martinorum n. sp. forms
a (weakly supported) clade in the Cyt-b tree contain-
ing also the widespread T. europaea and two endemics
from Western Europe, T. aquitania and T. occidentalis.
Biogeographically, it is straightforward to interpret this
nding. Inside the Balkan refugium there was no evolu-
tionary divergence of an ancestral mole to T. martinorum
n. sp. and either T. stankovici or T. caeca. Instead, T. mar-
tinorum putatively originated from a small peripheral
fragment population of a taxon ancestral also to T. eu-
ropaea. The process replicates itself in each of the three
major southern European refugia, namely with T. aquita-
nia and T. occidentalis in the west, with a deeply diver-
gent phylogeographic lineage of T. europaea in northern
Italy (Feuda et al. 2015), and nally in the eastern part
of the Balkan refugium with T. martinorum n. sp. (this
study). The observed pattern ts well the hypothesis by
Bilton et al. (1998) on Mediterranean refugia as areas of
endemism rather than sources of postglacial northward
recolonizations. Based on molecular clock estimates of
divergences between T. europaea, T. aquitania and T.
occidentalis (1.88–3.71 Mya; Bannikova et al. 2015;
Feuda et al. 2015; Nicolas et al. 2017b), the most recent
common ancestor to T. martinorum n. sp. and T. euro-
paea must be of Early Pleistocene age or older. Late
Pliocene small moles from Varshets in north-western
Bulgaria, classied as T. cf. levantis, closely resemble
T. martinorum n. sp. by their small size and the 3rd upper
molar with no parastyle and with an undivided mesostyle
(Popov 2004). Middle Pleistocene strata of Yarimburgaz
Cave near Istanbul, i.e., inside the contemporary range
of the new species, also yielded a small species of mole
tentatively identied as T. levantis (Santel & Königswald
1998). Fossil evidence therefore provides strong support
for a long persistence in the eastern Balkan refugium of
a mole most similar to the current T. martinorum n. sp.
Molecular evidence (Bannikova et al. 2015; this study)
so far did not yield any support for the earlier assumption
that moles colonized southeast Europe via an intermit-
tent Bosporus land bridge during one of the low sea level
phases (Vohralík 1991; Kryštufek & Vohralík 2001). The
alternative submergences and emergences of the Bospo-
rus Strait enabled migrations of mammals from Europe
to Asia (e.g., Glis glis; Helvaci et al. 2012), from Asia to
Europe (e.g., Microtus hartingi; Kryštufek et al. 2009),
or in both directions (Crocidura leucodon; Dubey et al.
2007). As shown by sedimentological evidence, however,
the Bosporus land bridge emerged as a permeable barrier
only in the Middle Pleistocene (Kerey et al. 2004) and
therefore postdates the postulated split between T. mar-
tinorum n. sp. and T. europaea (see discussion above).
Therefore, even if moles from Asia would colonize Eu-
rope via the Bosporus land bridge, they would face an
established congeneric species in the new habitats. How-
ever, such speculations should be taken with a grain of
salt. So far, none of the moles in the Bosporus region on
either side of the strait have been screened genetically. A
denser sampling in that particular part of Turkey is there-
fore a necessity for a more holistic understanding of mole
evolution in this biogeographically dynamic region.
Acknowledgements. We thank Jevgeni Shergalin for help with
biographic information on Vladimir and Evgeniya Martino,
and Georgy Bakhtadze for providing Fig. 8. Franc Janžekov-
ič ran analyses in SPSS Statistics, Mojca Jernejc Kodrič pro-
cessed the skeletal material of the new species, and Hannah
Petersen performed the wet-lab work. B. K. acknowledges
the curators who made the study of museum vouchers under
their responsibility possible for him: the late William Stanley
(FMNH), the late Svetoslav Obratil (ZMBiH), Linda Gordon
(NMNH), Paula Jenkins (NHML), the late Kurt Bauer and Frie-
derike Spitzenberger (NMW), Haluk Kefelioğlu (OMU), and
Nataliya Abramson and Alexandra Davydova (ZIN). Alexandr
Pozdnyakov helped with references, Georgy Popgeorgiev with
Fig. 7, Jörg Adrian provided photographs shown in Figs 4 and
5, and Henning Vierhaus donated owl pellet material from his
own collection. B. K. acknowledges the nancial support from
the Slovenian Research Agency (research core funding no.
P1-0255).
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APPENDIX 1
Comparative museum vouchers
Listed are museum vouchers with the appropriate collec-
tion numbers; see text for collection acronyms. Material
is itemized by country and sorted alphabetically accord-
ing to locality.
Talpa altaica Nikol’skiy, 1883 (Nikol’skiy 1883: 165).
Russian Federation – ZFMK-MAM-1987.751 and
1987.752 from Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk Oblast.
Talpa aquitania Nicolas, Martínez-Vargas & Hu-
got, 2017 (Nicolas et al. 2017a: 641). France – ZFMK-
MAM-2005.242 from Arles-sur-Tech, Departement
Roussilon. ZFMK-MAM-2005.156 to 2005.159 from
vicinity of Blaye, Departement Gironde. Spain – ZFMK-
MAM-2005.203 to 2005.2005 from vicinity of Barbadillo
de Pez, Province of Burgos. ZFMK-MAM-2005.201from
Burguete, Province of Navarra. ZFMK-MAM-2005.202
from Cameros, Sierra de Cebollera, Province of Logro-
no. ZFMK-MAM-2005.189 to 2005.200 from vi-
cinity of Corconte, Province of Santander. ZFMK-
MAM-2005.160 to 2005.166, 2005.169 to 2005.175,
2005.177 to 2005.179, and 2005.181 from Ramales de la
Victoria, Province of Cantabria. ZFMK-MAM-2005.176
and 2005.180 from Lanetosa, Province of Vizcaya.
Talpa caeca Savi, 1822 (Savi 1822: 265). Bosnia and
Herzegovina – PMS 7239 from Čemerno. PMS 7478
from Lake Boračko jezero, Mt. Prenj. ZMS 293 (type
of Talpa hercegovinensis Bolkay, 1925; Bolkay 1925: 1)
from Stolac. Greece – NHML 31.11.11.24 to 31.11.11.26
and 31.11.11.27 (type of Talpa olympica Chaworth-Mus-
ters, 1932; Chaworth-Musters 1932: 166), 31.11.11.28
to 31.11.11.31 from eastern slope of Mt. Olympus. Ita-
ly – ZFMK-MAM-2005.260 to 2005.263, 2005.268, and
2005.269 from Abetone Pass, Province of Pistoia. PMS
9813 from Caramanico, Province of Pescara. ZFMK-
MAM-2005.266 and 2005.267 from vicinity of Colle di
Nava, Province Imperia. ZFMK-MAM-2005.264 and
2005.265 from Osiglia, Province of Savona. Kosovo –
PMS 7473 from Pavlov kamen, Mt. Šar planina. Mace-
donia – PMS 7475 from Derven Pass above Prilep. PMS
7474 from Magarevo, Bitola. Montenegro – PMS 7485
from Mt. Kom Vasojević. ZFMK-MAM-1966.310 from
Mt. Lovćen. PMS 7523 from Morača. PMS 8131 from
Nikšić. Switzerland – ZFMK-MAM-1965.065 from
Bergell, Canton Graubünden.
Talpa caucasica Satunin, 1908 (Satunin 1908: 5). Rus-
sian Federation – NMW 19943 to 19945 from Psebaj,
Krasnodar krai, north-western Caucasus.
Talpa davidiana (Milne-Edwards, 1884) (Milne-Ed-
wards 1884: 1143). Iran – FMNH 111007 from 1 mile
south of Divandarreh, Kurdistan. FMNH 96421, 96423
and 96424 (type of Talpa streeti Lay, 1965; Lay 1965:
227) from Hezar Darreh, Kurdistan. Turkey – FMNH
82136 and 82137, PMS 21503 from Bitlis, Tatvan. OMU
231 from Megabuti yaylası, Hakkari. NMW 20326 and
20327 from Cilo-Sat-Mts., Mergan Zoma, Hakkari.
MNHN 1883.469 (type of Scaptochirus davidianus
Milne-Edwards, 1884) from Meydanekbez, Gaziantep.
OMU 166 and 232 from Otluca köyü, Hakkari. Israel
– NHML M15277 (type of Talpa chthonia Bate, 1937;
Bate 1937: 399), M16092 from the Upper Pleistocene
layers of Tabun Cave.
Talpa europaea Linnaeus, 1758 (Linnaeus 1758:
52). Austria – ZFMK-MAM-2005.143, 2005.146, and
2005.185 from Kleinalm, Lower Tauern, Styria. Bos-
nia and Herzegovina – PMS 21511 from Gornji Malo-
van. Bulgaria – ZFMK-MAM-1938.146 from Bansko,
Mt. Pirin. Germany – ZFMK-MAM-2005.342 from
Bonn-Kessenich, NRW. ZFMK-MAM-2005.334 from
Bonn-Lengsdorf, NRW. ZFMK-MAM-2007.006 from
vicinity of Münster, NRW. ZFMK-MAM-2009.021
from Wahner Heide, Niederrheinische Bucht, NRW.
ZFMK-MAM-2014.748 from Welldorf, Dueren, NRW.
ZFMK-MAM-2002.138 from Wesseling-Urfeld, North
Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). ZFMK-MAM-2005.139
from Angeln, Schleswig-Holsteinisches Hügel-
land, Schleswig-Holstein. ZFMK-MAM-2005.153
from Großhansdorf, Schleswig-Holstein. France –
ZFMK-MAM-2005.084 and 2005.085 from St. Tro-
pez, Pampelonne, Departement Var. Italy – ZFMK-
MAM-2005.086 from vicinity of Albenga, Province of
Savona. ZFMK-MAM-2005.089 from Dego, Province of
Savona. ZFMK-MAM-2005.066, 2005.074, 2005.075,
and 2005.328 from Merano, Province of South Tyrol.
ZFMK-MAM-2005.090 to 2005.093 from Pass Colle
di Nava, Province of Imperia. ZFMK-MAM-2005.087
from Pass Col di Sistriere, the Cottian Alps (Alpi Cozie),
Region of Piedmont. ZFMK-MAM-2005.088 from Pi-
etralunga, Province of Perugia. Montenegro – PMS 393
from Lubnice, Mt. Bjelasica. Serbia – ZIN 33974 (Type
of Talpa europaea pančići V. Martino, 1930; Martino
1930: 60) from Kraljevo. Slovenia – PMS 25634 from
Mt. Pohorje.
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
Boris Kryštufek et al.56
Talpa levantis Thomas, 1906 (Thomas 1906: 416). Tur-
key – NHML 25.11.1991 (type of Talpa caeca levan-
tis) from Altindere, Trabzon. NHML 6.5.1.1 to 6.5.1.4
from Çosandere, Trabzon. NHML 6.3.6.6 from Euthey,
Trabzon. NHML 6.3.6.4; NMNH 327252 and 327253
from Meryemana, Trabzon. OMU 233, 234, and 236 to
242 from Bitlis, Tatvan. NMW 13042 and 13043 from
Bolu. PMS 10299 from Kürtler, Samsun. PMS 21658
from 10 km east of Şavşat, Ardahan. NMW 19858 from
Ulubey, Ordu. NMW 19859 from Yavuz-Kemal, Bicik,
Giresun. PMS 11372 from Şehitlor Geçidi, Mts. Giresun
Dağları, Tamdere. NMNH 327263 and 327264, PMS
10650 from Mt. Ulu Dağ, Bursa.
Talpa occidentalis Cabrera, 1907 (Cabrera 1907: 212).
Spain – ZFMK-MAM-2005.304 from 4 km south-west
of Cantoral, Province of Burgos. ZFMK-MAM-2005.279
and 2005.280 from 1 km north-east of Cazorla, Province
of Jaén. ZFMK-MAM-2005.271 to 2005.275 from Es-
pinama, National Park Picos de Europa, Province of Can-
tabria. ZFMK-MAM-2005.290 to 2005.294, 2005.297,
and 2005.298 from vicinity of Espinosa de los Monteros,
Province of Burgos. ZFMK-MAM-2005.276 to 2005.278
from 7 km south-west of Lanetosa, Puerto de los To-
mos, Province of Santander. ZFMK-MAM-2005.308
and 2005.309 from vicinity of Las Rozas, Province of
Santander. ZFMK-MAM-2005.281 to 2005.286 from
10 km south of Rascafria, Province of Segovia. ZFMK-
MAM-2005.299 to 2005.301 from Llánares de la Reina,
Province of León. ZFMK-MAM-2005.301 and 2005.302
from 10 km south of Riano, Province of León. ZFMK-
MAM-2005.314 from near Samosierra, Province of
Segovia. ZFMK-MAM-2005.310 to 2005.313 from Sier-
ra de Gredos, Province of Ávila. ZFMK-MAM-2005.270
from Paso di Somosierra, Sierra de la Guadarrama, Prov-
ince of Segovia.
Talpa romana Thomas, 1902 (Thomas 1902: 516). It-
aly – PMS 9855 from Caramanico, Province of Pes-
cara. ZFMK-MAM-1977.675 from Catanzano, Prov-
ince of Calabria. ZFMK-MAM-1966.291 to 1966.302,
1966.305, 1966.306, and 2005.335 from Monte Garga-
no, Province of Puglia. ZFMK-MAM-1966.303 from the
National Park Abruzzo. ZFMK-MAM-1966.304 from
Pescasseroli, Province of L’Aquila.
Talpa stankovici V. Martino & E. Martino, 1931
(Martino & Martino 1931: 53). Greece – ZFMK-
MAM-2005.322 to 2005.326 from Corfu, Ionian Islands.
ZFMK-MAM-205.327 from 7 km south of Ioannina,
Epirus. ZFMK-MAM-1963.680 and 1977.031 from Mt.
Olympus. Macedonia – ZIN 34014 (type of Talpa roma-
na stankovici) from Magarevo, Bitola. PMS 7488 from
Derven Pass above Prilep. PMS 7491 to 7493 and 7502
from Mt. Galičica. ZFMK-MAM-1998.709 and PMS
7497 from Mt. Bistra. PMS 7499 from Mt. Kajmakčalan.
PMS 7486 and 7487 from Prilep. PMS 7496 and 7503
from Popova šapka, Mt. Šar planina. PMS 7504, 7505,
and 7507 from Resen. PMS 7495 and 7497 from Stru-
ga. Montenegro – PMS 3202, 3203, 3205 (type of Tal-
pa stankovici montenegrina Kryštufek, 1994; Kryštufek
1994: 14) and 3207 from Ulcinj.
Talpa talyschensis Vereschchagin, 1945 (Vereschchagin
1945: 67). Iran– Ghilan, FMNH 96416 to 96419 from 12
km west of Chalus.
New mole from Thrace
Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (1): 41–57 ©ZFMK
57
APPENDIX 3
Eponyms to (Vladimir) Martino
Names are arranged chronologically. Species name as is
currently in use (ex Wilson & Reeder 2005) is in square
brackets when appropriate.
Pitymys subterraneus martinoi Éhik, 1935 (Éhik 1935:
60) [Microtus subterraneus]
Sumeriomys guentheri martinoi Petrov, 1939 (Petrov
1939: 363) [Microtus guentheri]
Rhinolophus ferrumequinum martinoi Petrov, 1940 (Pe-
trov 1940: 59)
Arvicola terrestris martinoi Petrov, 1949 (Petrov 1949:
186) [Arvicola amphibius]
APPENDIX 2
GenBank accession numbers. Specimens of Talpa martinorum n. sp. sequenced in this study. List includes collecting
data for the new sequences and GenBank accession numbers. See text for collection acronyms and Fig. 7 for locality
numbers (Loc. No.).
Collection No. Loc.
No.
Latitude Longi-
tude
Field
number
DNA voucher
Tissue voucher
GenBank No.
NMS BG1 3 42.04736 27.64744 BG1 ZFMK-DNA-FC19476453
ZFMK-TIS-23033
MH093591
NMS BG2 3 42.04697 27.64782 BG2 ZFMK-DNA-FC19476461
ZFMK-TIS-23034
MH093592
ZFMK-MAM- 2017.1149 2 42.09068 27.47637 BG8 ZFMK-DNA-FC19476469
ZFMK-TIS-23035
MH093593
ZFMK-MAM- 2017.1150 1 42.12798 27.59862 BG9 ZFMK-DNA-FC19476382
ZFMK-TIS-23036
MH093594
ZFMK-MAM- 2017.1151 4 42.09424 27.68921 BG10 ZFMK-DNA-FC19476390
ZFMK-TIS-23037
MH093595
ZFMK-MAM- 2017.1152 6 42.19826 27.73069 BG14 ZFMK-DNA-FC19476398
ZFMK-TIS-33755
MH093596
PMS 25631 7 42.19739 27.79592 BG15 ZFMK-DNA-FC19476406
ZFMK-TIS-33756
MH093597
PMS 25633 5 42.2287 27.70733 BG17 ZFMK-DNA-FC19476422
ZFMK-TIS-33758
Mustela erminea martinoi Ellerman & Morrison-Scott,
1951 (Ellerman & Morrison-Scott 1951: 256)
Citellus citellus martinoi Peshev, 1955 (Peshev 1955:
290) [Spermophilus citellus]
Glis glis martinoi Mirić, 1960 (Mirić 1960: 36)
Spalax leucodon martinoi Petrov, 1971 (Petrov 1971a:
13P)
Lynx lynx martinoi Mirić, 1978 (Mirić 1978: 30)
