Zokors are Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling blind mole-rats.Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Vol. 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, London. They include two genera: Myospalax and Eospalax.*Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore Zokors are native to much of China, Kazakhstan, and Siberian Russia.
Traditionally, zokors were thought to be closely related to either hamsters (Cricetinae) or voles (Arvicolinae), but molecular phylogenetic studies in 2004 demonstrated they are more closely related to blind mole-rats (Spalacinae) and root and bamboo rats (Rhizomyinae) in the family Spalacidae. This implies that one of the first important evolutionary splits in muroid rodents is between burrowing forms and nonburrowing forms.
Unlike the other spalacids, which primarily use their incisors, zokors use their powerful front claws for digging. They have small eyes and no external ears. Zokors feed on plant matter such as tubers and seeds.
Taxonomy Subfamily Myospalacinae Genus Myospalax Myospalax myospalax species group False zokor, M. aspalax Siberian zokor, M. myospalax Myospalax psilurus species group Transbaikal zokor, M. psilurus Genus Eospalax Chinese zokor, E. fontanierii Rothschild's zokor, E. rothschildi Smith's zokor, E. smithii
Extinct genera Siberosiphneus - Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene, Siberia and European Russia Episiphneus - Late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene, Mongolia and northern China Pliosiphneus - Early to Middle Pliocene, China and Mongolia ProsiphneusZheng, SH. (2017). "The Zokors of Yushe Basin." In: J. Flynn, L., Wu, WY. (eds) Late Cenozoic Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province, China: Geology and Fossil Mammals. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. doi: 10.1007/978-94-024-1050-1_9 - Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, China, Mongolia, and Siberia
References
Jansa, S. A. and M. Weksler. 2004. Phylogeny of muroid rodents: relationships within and among major lineages as determined by IRBP gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 31:256-276.