Tscherskia triton (de Winton, 1899) —Greater Long-tailed Hamster

Cricetus (Cricetulus) triton de Winton in Winton & Styan, 1899 p.575; Type locality- northern Shandon (Shantung), China.

Cricetulus nestor Thomas, 1907b p.466; Type locality- Gimhwa (Kim-hoa), Gangwon Province, Korea; Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.377.

Tscherskia triton albipes Ognev, 1914 p.102; Type locality- southern Ussuri, Siberia.

Cricetulus triton nester: Howell, 1929 p.50; Kuroda, 1938 p.58; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.626; Won, 1958 p.446; Jones & Johnson, 1965 p.370; Won, 1967 p.202; Won, 1968 p.195; Yoon, 1992 p.73.

Asiocricetus bampensis Kishida, 1929 p.150; Type locality- Manpo, Korea; Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.377; Tate, 1947 p.257 (hampensis likely a misprint of bampensis).

A. yamashinai Kishida, 1929 p.156; Type locality- Manpo; Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.377; Tate, 1947 p.257.

Cricetulus triton: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.626; Won, 1968 p.194; Corbet, 1978 p.92.

Tscherskia triton: Han, 1994 p.47; Won & Smith, 1999 p.26; Han, 2004c p.139; Jo et al., 2012 p.253.

Range: The greater long-tailed hamster occurs throughout the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island (Fig. 116).

Remarks: Thomas (1907b) found specimens from Korea larger in size than those from China. In Korea, including Jeju Island, the Subspecies T. t. nestor occurs (Jones & Johnson 1965). Koh et al. (2013) showed that the subpopulation from Jeju Island was an allopatric phylogroup. However, the subspecific status of greater long-tailed hamster from Jeju Island remains uncertain.

Conservation status: Koh et al. (2013) advocated that the rare, endemic, genetically distinct, population of T. t. nestor Thomas, 1907 on Jeju Island required special protection as an endangered species.