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Let us go back to the type materials to investigate the cranial differences among the Meriones species (Rodentia, Gerbillinae)

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Abstract

The genus Meriones Illiger, 1811 comprises species that are mainly desert or semi-desert inhabitants in the Palearctic region. These species are usually distinguished from each other by some external and cranial characters, yet they show a considerable level of intra-specific variation. Studies demonstrated that their taxonomy is complex, and that they show a considerable level of morphological plasticity. This study mainly deals with such taxonomical issues in jirds belonging to the genus Meriones, and provides a contribution to their conservation status. To explore cranial shape and size differences among Meriones species, morphological variables of type specimens of ten valid Meriones species, as well as of their synonyms were investigated. These include Meriones libycus, M. crassus, M. persicus, M. tristrami, M. meridianus, M. hurrianae, M. rex, M. shawii, M. sacramenti, and M. arimalius. To obtain the geometry of the biological forms, 2D-landmark data was acquisitioned, and analysed using geometric morphometric techniques. Multivariate analyses on the shape data of ventral, dorsal, and lateral views showed that, although some species reveal an overlap in morpho-space, in some views they are morphologically distinct. A cluster analyses demonstrates the existence of at least two major groups. Although, it is possible to discriminate some Meriones species based on the relative bulla’ size, the results support the hypothesis that this criterion is not applicable to all of them. Size analyses demonstrated that the inter-landmarks distances representing the length of the tooth row and the opening of suprameatal triangle are significantly different between some jird species, and hence should be considered as a distinctive trait in the identification keys on jirds. Conclusively, only a thorough systematic revision of the genus Meriones, considering zoogeographic and ecological data, may complete the puzzle of the taxonomy of these species.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to all museum curators and collection managers who provided us with access to the collections. Thanks to anonymous referees for their helpful comments that improved the quality of the manuscript.

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  1. Environment Department, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Azadi Sq., Mashhad, Iran

    Fatemeh Tabatabaei Yazdi & Sarina Dousti

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  1. Fatemeh Tabatabaei Yazdi
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Both authors contributed equally in all aspects of this study and both approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Fatemeh Tabatabaei Yazdi.

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Ethical approval is not required for the studied specimens.

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Appendix

Appendix

Collection numbers of the studied specimens at the British Museum of Natural History (London, UK).

Meriones crassus Sundevall, 1842

5. 10. 4. 38, 24. 8. 2. 4, 10. 3. 12. 5, 2. 11. 4. 64, 83. 11. 30. 1, 19. 7. 7. 2246.

Meriones libycus Lichtenstein, 1823

24. 8. 2. 5., 12. 4. 1. 44., 82. 7. 29. 9, 2. 11. 4. 56, 25. 5. 12. 59, 19. 7. 7. 1560, 5. 7. 2. 2, 24. 8. 2. 6., 24. 8. 2. 7.

Meriones persicus Blanford, 1875

5. 10. 4. 35, 76. 3. 10. 2, 19. 11. 7. 69.

Meriones shawii (Dovernoy, 1842)

19. 7. 7.1567, 82. 7. 29. 10., 82. 7. 29. 8., 92. 7. 1. 6, 19. 7. 7. 2981, 19. 7. 7. 1941, 82. 7. 29. 7.

Meriones rex Yerbury and Thomas, 1895

2. 11. 22. 9, 40. 272, 95. 6. 1. 30

Meriones tristrami Thomas, 1892

3. 6. 1. 1., 8. 7. 1. 28

Meriones sacramenti Thomas, 1922

22. 10. 4. 1

Meriones hurrianae Jordan, 1867

7. 6. 8. 7

Meriones meridianus (Pallas, 1773)

8. 8. 7. 30.

Sekeetamys calurus (Thomas, 1892)

1988. 558.

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Tabatabaei Yazdi, F., Dousti, S. Let us go back to the type materials to investigate the cranial differences among the Meriones species (Rodentia, Gerbillinae). Biologia 78, 2779–2791 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-023-01402-w

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