Rhombomys opimus (Lichtenstein, 1823) . Naturh. Abh. Eversmann's Reise, p. 122.

TYPE LOCALITY: Kazakhstan, Kzyl-Ordinskaya, KaraKumy Desert (see Pavlinov and Rossolimo, 1987) .

DISTRIBUTION: From S Mongolia through Ningxia, Gansu, and Xinjiang in China to Kazakhstan, Iran, Afghanistan, and SW Pakistan (Corbet, 1978c; Ma et al., 1987).

SYNONYMS: alaschanicus, dalversinicus, funicolor, giganteus, nigrescens, pallidus, pevzovi, sargadensis, sodalis .

COMMENTS: Citations for synonyms were referenced by Pavlinov and Rossolimo (1987). Reviewed by Pavlinov et al. (1990). Regional reviews cover Pakistan (Roberts, 1977), Iran (Lay, 1967), Afghanistan (Hassinger, 1973), and Xinjiang (Ma et al., 1987).