Spalax Guldenstaedt, 1770 . Nova Comm. Acad. Sci. Petropoli, ser. 14, 1:410.

TYPE SPECIES: Spalax microphthalmus Guldenstaedt, 1770 .

SYNONYMS: Anotis, Aspalax, Macrospalax, Myospalax (of Hermann, 1783, not Laxmann, 1769), Ommatostergus, Talpoides .

COMMENTS: Peshev (1989a, b) illuminated interspecific differences among the five species, as well as sexual dimorphism within each, using morphometric techniques. Compared with Nannospalax, karyotypic characteristics of Spalax species include high diploid and fundamental numbers, no acrocentric chromosomes, smaller interspecific differences in karyotypic structure, and lack of significant interpopulation variation (Savie and Nevo, 1990).