ZOKORS
Zokors (Myospalacines) are burrowing rodents that live in Asia and resemble mole-rats. Mostly found in China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia and eastern Russia, they are placed within the subfamily Myospalacinae and include six species in two genera:Myospalax and Eospalax. Within the genus Myospalax there are four species: 1) False zokors (Myospalax aspalax) and 2) Siberian zokors (M. myospalax) in the Myospalax myospalax species group; and 3) Transbaikal zokors (M. psilurus) in the Myospalax psilurus species group. In the Genus Eospalax there are three species: 4) Chinese zokor (Eospalax fontanierii); 5) Rothschild's zokor (E. rothschildi); 6) Smith's zokor (E. smithii). [Source: Wikipedia]
In the past zokors were thought to be closely related to either hamsters (Cricetinae) or voles (Arvicolinae), but recent molecular phylogenetic studies indicate they are more closely related to blind mole-rats (Spalacinae) and root and bamboo rats (Rhizomyinae) in the family Spalacidae, which seems to back up theory that the first important evolutionary splits in muroid rodents was between burrowing forms and nonburrowing forms. Unlike the other spalacids, which primarily use their incisors for digging, zokors use their powerful front claws. Zokors have small eyes and no external ears. Zokors feed on plant matter such as tubers and seeds.
Zokors are found in woodlands, steppes, river valley meadows, pastures, old agricultural fields, and vegetable gardens. They are most common at elevations between 900 and 2,120 meters (2,952 to 6,955 feet). The earliest known zokor fossils, belonging to an extinct genus, date to the middle Miocene(16 million to 11.6 million yeasr ago) in Mongolia. Myospalax fossils from the Pleistocene (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) are the earliest representatives of living zokors. [Source: Allison Poor, Animal Diversity Web (ADW)]
The the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists three zokor species as lower risk (Myospalax psilurus, M. rothschildi, M. smithii), and one as vulnerable (M. fontanierii). Eradication campaigns aimed at “pests” and harvesting of zokors for their bones have taken their toll on zokor populations. When there are large of numbers of them, zokors can become serious agricultural pests, destroying crops, competing with cattle for food, and causing soil erosion. For these reasons, intensive poisoning campaigns have been carried out by local governments against them in China since the 1980s. In recent years, Chinese scientists have acknowledged that "pest" species such as zokors mainly become nuisances when rangeland is overgrazed, and native wildlife such as zokors are necessary to maintain a balanced ecosystem.
Zokor Characteristics
Zokors weigh between 150 and 563 grams (5.2 to 20 ounces) and have head and body length of from 14.7 to 27 centimeters (5.7 to 10.6 inches). The tail is short; ranges from 2.9 to 9.6 centimeters (1.1 to 3.8 inches) in length. [Source: Allison Poor, Animal Diversity Web (ADW)]
Zokors have relatively long, sausage-like bodies. They have soft, thick fur, ranging in color from gray to buff, with patches of short vibrissae (whiskers) on their head. The back side of their bodies are usually paler than their bottom side. Their tiny eyes are covered by fur. There are no external ears. The limbs are short, but the feet are very wide and strong, with curved claws. The third claw on each forefoot is the strongest. The first and fifth digits are reduced. The longest claws on the forefeet are at least three times the length of the claws on the hindfeet.
According to to Animal Diversity Web: The zokor dental formula is 1/1, 0/0, 0/0, 3/3 = 16. The incisors are orthodont, and the molars are hypsodont and omegaform. Zokors have tympanic bullae that are somewhat inflated and their mallei are perpendicular in conformation. They have fused cervical vertebrae, stomachs composed of three parts, and 16-chambered ceca. There are three pairs of mammae. Zokors have a diploid number of chromosomes between 44 and 64.
Zokor Diet, Predators and Ecosystem Roles
Zokors are primarily herbivores. They mainly eat roots, grains, bulbs, and rhizomes but also consume leaves and shoots, and occasionally, insects and other arthropods. Zokors dig underground storage chambers where they keep surplus plant foods for future consumption. [Source: Allison Poor, Animal Diversity Web (ADW)]
Many species of carnivorous mammals and hawks, eagles, and owls prey on zokors. Among these are are: Chinese mountain cats, Pallas’s cats, Eurasian lynxes, Eurasian ferrets, steppe polecats, foxes, upland buzzards, golden eagles, saker falcons, goshawks, black kites, and little owls.
The primary way that zokors avoid predation is by spending most of their time underground and only coming above ground to forage at night. Chinese mountain cats hunt burrowing prey, such as zokors, by listening to them in their tunnels, and then digging them up.
Zokors play important ecosystem roles in the areas they inhabit. In the short run, their feeding and burrowing habits increase plant diversity and change the competitive interactions among plants in the short term by creating a heterogeneous distribution of nutrients when they deposit soil on the ground surface. They also help aerate soil and allow water to reach plant roots more easily. But in the long run, zokors have been shown to decrease the biomass of certain types of plants and thus lower the plant species diversity overall. Their burrowing activity disturbs or destroys plant roots. An indirect benefit of zokors is that they avoid eating plants that contain secondary chemical compounds, so those plants tend to become dominant and prevent livestock from overgrazing. The activities of zokors affect other animals, too. Many animal species feed on them and use their burrows for refuge and breeding.
Zokor Behavior, Communication and Reproduction
Zokors are solitary, terricolous (live on the ground), fossorial (engaged in a burrowing life-style or behavior, and good at digging or burrowing), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary), sedentary (remain in the same area) and territorial (defend an area within the home range) [Source: Lacey Padgett and Christine Small, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Zokors spend almost all of their time below ground, burrowing about through the soil like a mole. They dig with their forefeet and push out soil with their heads. Zokors occasionally forage above ground at night. When they walk above ground, they curve their long foreclaws down under their feet and walk on top of them.. Zokors are mainly solitary, and can be highly aggressive and territorial.
Individual zokors construct a burrow system consisting of a nest chamber, storage chamger, and defecation chamber about two meters below the surface, with one to four shallower foraging tunnels radiating outward. These foraging tunnels may be up to 100 meters long. When zokors dig, they push loose earth out of their tunnels and onto the soil surface, leaving a series of dirt mounds in their wake.
Zokors do not typically hibernate (the state that some animals enter during winter in which normal physiological processes are significantly reduced, thus lowering the animal’s energy requirements). They are active throughout the year, with their activity levels peaking in the spring and the fall. Their activity levels may drop during the winter months due to the temperature variations above ground. They mainly rely on their burrows to provide a stable environment, even during the coldest months.
Zokors sense and communicate mainly with touch, sound and chemicals usually detected with smell. They have acute senses of smell and hearing. Their eyes are small but sensitive to light. They communicate with urine and feces scent-marking and several vocalizations. They have particular calls they use when threatening or attacking other individuals, and they give an alarm squeal when threatened by predators.
Little information is available on zokor reproduction and parenting. Females gives birth once each spring to a litter of four to five young. The young stay with their mother throughout the spring and summer, going their own way in autumn.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, CNTO (China National Tourism Administration) David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.
Last updated April 2025