Russian scientists have discovered a new species of gophers – Kommersant

Russian scientists have discovered a new species of gophers – Kommersant

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Russian scientists have reconstructed the evolutionary history of Palaearctic ground squirrels, thanks to which they have identified a new species of these animals. About it reports Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center” SB RAS.

Scientists have found that ancient gophers split into four main branches more than 6 million years ago. Each of them lived in East Asia, Eastern Europe and north-west Central Asia, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia Minor. The fourth group is from Central Asia.

The previously unknown species, which is endemic to Western Siberia, is distinguished by its darker color, large size and other physical features.

“It is distributed between the eastern bank of the Ob River and the western slopes of the Kuznetsk Alatau,” the report says (quoted by Interfax).

Alexandra Strelkova, Novosibirsk

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