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Myospalacinae

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Zokors are Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling mole-rats. They include two genera: Myospalax and Eospalax. Zokors are native to much of China, Kazakhstan, and Siberian Russia.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
monotypic taxon
Parent taxon
Spalacidae
Image
Eospalax baileyi (11).jpg
Show 3 more facts
taxon name
Myospalacinae
taxon rank
subfamily
Commons category
Myospalacinae
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Encyclopedic overview

2 sections
Contents
  • Taxonomy
  • References

Zokors are Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling mole-rats. They include two genera: Myospalax and Eospalax. Zokors are native to much of China, Kazakhstan, and Siberian Russia.

Traditionally, zokors were thought to be closely related to either hamsters (Cricetinae) or voles (Arvicolinae), but recent molecular phylogenetic studies have demonstrated they are more closely related to blind mole-rats (Spalacinae) and root and bamboo rats (Rhizomyinae) in the family Spalacidae. It appears that one of the first important evolutionary splits in muroid rodents is between burrowing forms and nonburrowing forms.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Myospalacinae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.