''Bramus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

fossorial A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

. It formerly contained only the

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

North African North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

species ''Bramus barbarus''. Both

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in ''Bramus'' were moved to this genus from ''

Ellobius ''Ellobius'' is a genus of rodents in the family Cricetidae. It contains two ('' E. talpinus'' and '' E. tancrei'') of the handful of examples of mammal species that have lost the Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes i ...

''. They differ from ''Ellobius'' in being larger, having a distinct sagital crest, and other features of the teeth and skull. They also occur

allopatric Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

ally from ''Ellobius''. They are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

, with females being larger than males. The genus comprises two extant species: *

Southern mole vole The southern mole vole (''Bramus fuscocapillus'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan. Chromosomes Southern mole voles are the only member of ''Ellobiusini Ellobiusini ...

, ''Bramus fuscocapillus'' ( Blyth, 1843) *

Transcaucasian mole vole The Transcaucasian mole vole (''Bramus lutescens'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Turkey. Reproduction Transcaucasian mole vole, they reproduce during the months of Apr ...

, ''Bramus lutescens'' (

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, 1897)

References

Rodent genera Taxa named by Auguste Pomel Taxa described in 1892 Arvicolinae {{Arvicolinae-stub