Geographical Variability of the Craniological Characters in Eversmann’s Hamsters and the Taxonomic Structure of the Genus Allocricetulus (Cricetidae)

The genus Allocricetulus at presently includes three taxa. The taxonomic status of two of them, A. eversmanni (Eversmann’s hamster) and A. curtatus (Mongolian hamster), is now beyond doubt. A third one, A. e. pseudocurtatus , was described as a karyotypically isolated subspecies of A. eversmanni , and has been interpreted ambiguously. In the present study, we analyze the taxonomic and geographical structure of the genus based on 28 craniometric characters using multivariate analysis. In total, 160 specimens from 76 localities were examined. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on the Mahalanobis distance and the maximum likelihood clustering demonstrates the existence of three morphological groups corresponding to three taxa. Both A. eversmanni and A. e. pseudocurtatus form sister clades, while A. curtatus occupies a position basal to them.