Biogeographic history of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene European small hamsters (subfamily Cricetinae).

ABSTRACT: The prevailing paleobiogeographic hypothesis suggests that many steppe and tundra-steppe taxa currently found in Central Asia expanded into Europe during Pleistocene glacial periods, when open habitats dominated. However, previous studies have shown that one such species, the European narrow-headed vole (Stenocranius anglicus), diverged from its Asiatic counterparts over 200 thousand years ago, implying its prolonged isolation and survival in European refugia through the Eemian interglacial period. To test whether this was an exception or part of a broader pattern, we analysed the mitochondrial genomes from 33 Late Pleistocene and Holocene small hamster (Cricetinae) remains from Central and Western Europe, the Balkans, and Anatolia, all previously identified morphologically as grey dwarf h

SUBMITTER: Bujalska B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12859059 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature