Blanfordimys afghanus (Thomas 1912)

[Blanfordimys] afghanus (Thomas 1912), Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 9: 349.

Type Locality: Afghanistan, Badkhiz, Gulran.

Vernacular Names: Afghan Vole.

Synonyms: Blanfordimys afganensis Agadzhanyan and Yatsenko 1984; Blanfordimys balchanensis (Heptner and Shukurov 1950); Blanfordimys dangarinensis Golenishchev and Sablina 1991 .

Distribution: High steppes and semi-desert in S Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and C Afghanistan; isolated population in Great Balkhan Mtns on E coast of Caspian Sea.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Taxonomy and distribution of Afghanistan populations reported by Niethammer (1970) and Hassinger (1973), karyotype (2n = 58, FN = 60 or 61) documented by Lyapunova and Zagorodnyuk (1990), and morphometric and karyological analyses provided by Golenishchev and Sablina (1991), who recognized three subspecies.