24. Giant Blind Mole-rat Spalax giganteus French: Spalax géant / German: Riesenblindmaus / Spanish: Rata topo ciega gigante Other common names: Giant Mole-rat Taxonomy. Spalax giganteus Nehring, 1898, near Makhachkala, W shore of Caspian Sea, Dagestan, Russia. Spalax uralensis had been widely regarded as a synonym or subspecies of S. giganteus until 1993 when A. Yu. Puzachenko demonstrated its unique status using morphometrics. Monotypic. Distribution. Stavropol, Kalmykia, Chechnya, and Dagestan (Russia). Descriptive notes. Head-body 250-350 mm, no visible external tail; weight up to 1 kg. Male Giant Blind Mole-rats are larger than females. It is the largest species of blind mole-rat. It has short pale silvery gray-straw pelage. Anterior part of head is lighter, sometimes almost white, and underside is grayer. Young individuals are darker and grayer. Compared with the Kazakhstan Blind Mole-rat (S. uralensis), the Giant Blind Mole-rat has high and narrow rostrum and wider upper incisors. Diploid number is 2n = 62. Habitat. Semi-desert and steppe. The Giant Blind Mole-rat prefers sandy or loamy soils. It likes relatively moist areas in otherwise arid areas, such as near bodies of water. It is also known from some agricultural areas. Food and Feeding. Giant Blind Mole-rats feed on underground plant parts such as roots, bulbs, and tubers. Breeding. Mating of Giant Blind Mole-rats occurs in December—January. Litter sizes are 2-3. Young disperse by autumn, either digging burrows near the mother or by dispersing aboveground. Sexual maturity is reached in the second year. Activity patterns. Giant Blind Mole-rats are active year-round. Digging activities peak in March-April. Movements, Home range and Social organization. Giant Blind Mole-rats are solitary, with one individual per burrow except for females with young. Feeding tunnels are located 20-50 cm below the surface, and burrow system can be 3 m deep. Mounds are 100 cm in diameter, 30 cm in height, and found at intervals of 5 m. Digging occurs ata rate of 2:5 cm/h. Where present, it may be the most abundant small mammal. Densities are poorly known, but appear to be ¢.0-5-2 ind/ha. Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List and as rare (category 3) in the Red Data Book of Russia. Distribution of the Giant Blind Mole-rat is very fragmented, and habitat quality continues to decline. Habitat loss has been exacerbated by war,soil salinization, and agricultural practices such as irrigation, overgrazing, and plowing. Itis almost extinct in Chechnya and perhaps Dagestan. It can be a pest in orchards and fields. Bibliography. Iliashenko & lliashenko (2000), Gromov & Erbajeva (1995), Musser & Carleton (2005), Ognev (1947), Pavlinov & Lissovsky (2012), Puzachenko (1993, 2016e), Topachevskii (1969), Tsytsulina, Formozov & Sheftel (2008).

Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier & Thomas E. Lacher, Jr, 2017, Spalacidae, pp. 108-142 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 7 Rodents II, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 139-140, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6609100