Intraspecific variability of craniometric characters (absolute measurements and indices) has been studied in the pygmy wood mouse Sylvaemus uralensis and the yellow-necked mouse S. flavicollis from a number of localities of Eastern Europe. A total of 478 skulls of Sylvaemus specimens were measured and analyzed. Cluster analysis of skull measurements showed that both S. uralensis and S. flavicollis could be split into two groups, the northern and the southern ones, which completely correspond to the genetically described intraspecific structure of S. flavicollis, but only partly in regards to S. uralensis. The northern and southern groups of both species are distinguished for the first time using discriminant analysis. Indices (relative skull measurements) related to the character of feeding are discussed. The intraspecific craniometric variability of S. flavicollis is suggested to be related to distinctions in the diet and the ways of getting food, whereas for S. uralensis no relation between the values of the indices of the dental apparatus and feeding features in different parts of its distribution range has been revealed.

Molecular genetic typing of voles from the vicinity of the Pslukh cordon (south of the Caucasian state reserve), Krasnaya Polyana, and from the Utrish reserve (the Abrau peninsula) has been carried out. Based on the nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, voles from Krasnaya Polyana and the Psulkh cordon should be attributed to Asia Minor voles (Chionomys roberti), and the animals from Utrish, to the Eastern European voles (Microtus rossiaemeridionalis). The Asia Minor voles belong to the North Caucasian phylogenetic branch of the species. The analysis of body measurements of voles from Krasnaya Polyana and Lazarevskii region (without molecular examination) showed that these animals also most likely belong to the Asia Minor voles (not to Gudaurskii, as was mistakenly considered earlier). Some information on the ecology of the Asia Minor voles in the region is given.

The work is devoted to clarify the etiological aspects of the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), clinical and epidemiological features that are closely linked to the etiology, as well as to development of methods and products for specific diagnosis and vaccine prevention of hantavirus infection. That regard to hantaviruses a set of virological, immunological and molecular-genetics methods were developed significantly enhance the effectiveness of the specific diagnostics of HFRS. The features of humoral immunity in HFRS were identified and atypical clinical forms of HFRS was istablished; indicators of natural immunity to hantavirus in the population living in different regions of Russia and the former Soviet republics have been identified that allowed us to refine nosological area of HFRS; new, previously unknown natural foci of HFRS, including hantavirus RNA, in the central regions of Russia and in the subtropical zone of Krasnodar region have been identified and studied; 76 strains and 70 isolates of 9 rodent species and one species of birds, as well as from the blood of patients with HFRS and sectional materials from HFRS dead patients have been isolated and identified; new hantavirus species - Khabarovsk, Taimyr-Topografov, Adler, as well as two new genotypes Dobrava/Belgrad virus - Kurkino and Sochi have been identified; species composition of small mammals - the natural reservoir of hantaviruses was the refined; etiological role and epidemiological importance of different hantaviruse types in HFRS incidence structure was established; the existence of new etiologically distinct hantavirus infections with significant epidemiological differences has been proven; manufacturing techniques and methods of control of the culture inactivated vaccine against HFRS has been developed.

Using chromosomal and molecular (cytb) markers, the specific identity of 78 individuals of cryptic species of voles of the subgenus Terricola was ascertained. The animal samples were obtained at 13 localities of the Caucasian region, from Krasnodar krai to North Ossetia in the Greater Caucasus and in the Stavropol Upland (forest island in the steppe) in Ciscaucasia, which had not been covered earlier in genetic studies. In the total sample, two chromosomal forms (cryptic species), namely, Microtus (Terricola) majori (2n = 54, NF = 60) and M. (T.) daghestanicus (2n = 54, NF = 58), were identified. The specific identity of most animals tested was confirmed by karyological means, and for individuals from two localities on the south slopes of the Greater Caucasus (Adlerskii district of Krasnodar krai), it was confirmed exclusively by means of molecular (cytb) markers. The last two records were used for evaluation of the differential role of sibling-species of the subgenus Terricola in circulation of the pathogen in mountain loci of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the Western Caucasus. For the first time, using the example of M. (T.) majori from the Ciscaucasia, which was compared with those of the mountain part of the species’ natural habitat, the role of isolation factors in morphogenesis of the subgenus Terricola was studied. As a whole, the results obtained specify the character of the geographical distribution and biotope attachment of cryptic species of the subgenus Terricola in the Caucasian region.

The work is devoted to clarify the etiological aspects of the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), clinical and epidemiological features that are closely linked to the etiology, as well as to development of methods and products for specific diagnosis and vaccine prevention of hantavirus infection. That regard to hantaviruses a set of virological, immunological and molecular-genetics methods were developed significantly enhance the effectiveness of the specific diagnostics of HFRS. The features of humoral immunity in HFRS were identified and atypical clinical forms of HFRS was istablished; indicators of natural immunity to hantavirus in the population living in different regions of Russia and the former Soviet republics have been identified that allowed us to refine nosological area of HFRS; new, previously unknown natural foci of HFRS, including hantavirus RNA, in the central regions of Russia and in the subtropical zone of Krasnodar region have been identified and studied; 76 strains and 70 isolates of 9 rodent species and one species of birds, as well as from the blood of patients with HFRS and sectional materials from HFRS dead patients have been isolated and identified; new hantavirus species - Khabarovsk, Taimyr-Topografov, Adler, as well as two new genotypes Dobrava/Belgrad virus - Kurkino and Sochi have been identified; species composition of small mammals - the natural reservoir of hantaviruses was the refined; etiological role and epidemiological importance of different hantaviruse types in HFRS incidence structure was established; the existence of new etiologically distinct hantavirus infections with significant epidemiological differences has been proven; manufacturing techniques and methods of control of the culture inactivated vaccine against HFRS has been developed.

Feces of 26 karyotyped vole specimens (Microtus arvalis arvalis, M. arvalis obscurus, M. levis (rossiaemeridionalis), and M. agrestis) from natural biotopes of the central chernozem zone have been examined to identify 4968 cuticular fragments of 36 plant species and 7 plant parts. Their analysis has shown that the diet of voles depends not so much on the consumer species as on the composition of plants in the foraging area. Voles differ more significantly in terms of what plant parts they consume: M. arvalis arvalis and M. arvalis obscurus more frequently feed on generative plant parts, while M. rossiaemeridionalis shows the highest preference for green parts.

С помощью хромосомных и молекулярных (cytb) маркеров уточнена видовая принадлежность 78 экз. криптических видов кустарниковых полевок подрода Terricola, добытых в 13 ранее не охваченных генетическими исследованиями пунктах Кавказского региона: от Краснодарского края до Северной Осетии на Большом Кавказе и на Ставропольской возвышенности (“лесной остров” в степи) в Предкавказье. В совокупной выборке выявлены 2 хромосомные формы (криптические виды): Microtus (Terricola) majori (2n = 54, NF = 60) и M. (T.) daghestanicus (2n = 54, NF = 58). Видовая принадлежность большинства исследованных животных подтверждена кариологически, а для особей из двух пунктов на южных склонах Большого Кавказа (Адлерский р-н Краснодарского края) установлена исключительно с помощью молекулярных (cytb) маркеров. Две последних находки использованы для оценки дифференциальной роли видов-двойников подрода Terricola в циркуляции возбудителя в горных очагах геморрагической лихорадки с почечным синдромом (ГЛПС) на Западном Кавказе. Впервые на примере M. (T.) majori из Предкавказья, сравниваемых с таковыми из горной части ареала вида, исследована роль факторов изоляции в формообразовании подрода Terricola. В целом, полученные результаты уточняют характер географического распространения и биотопической приуроченности криптических видов подрода Terricola в Кавказском регионе.

Из экскрементов 26 кариотипированных полевок Microtus arvalis arvalis (MAa), M. arvalis obscurus (MАo), M. levis (rossiaemeridionalis, MR) и M. agrestis (M. ag.) из природных биотопов Черноземья определено 4968 фрагментов кутикулы растений 36 видов и 7 типов частей растений. Рацион зависит не столько от вида потребителя, сколько от состава растений в месте питания. Полевки сильнее различаются по поеданию разных частей растения: МАа и MАo чаще потребляют генеративные части растений, MR - наиболее зеленоядна.

The characteristics of identified rodent communities and zoogeographic units of various ranks in Western Kazakhstan oblasts, presented on a map in Okulova et al. (2014), are described in this work.

On the basis of almost 100 years of zoological research in Western Kazakhstan, a map and GIS of the rodent community have been created. A hierarchical zoogeographic regionalization has been carried out using cluster analysis.

For the period from 2001 to 2011 zoological and epizootological studies in more than 100 points of Northwestern Caucasus including territories of Krasnodar Region and Republic of Adygea were carried out. 8723 specimens of small mammals represented by 20 rodent species and 7 insectivorous species were captured and examined. Organs and blood from 5057 specimens of creatures were studied for hantavirus infection. The presence of natural foci of circulation of 2 species of hantavirus--Dobrava/Belgrade and Tula--was established. Sochi viruses and presumably Kurkin with main natural hosts--Caucasian wood and field mice belong to the first species. Tula and Adler viruses with the main host--Microtus genus vole belong to the second species. Quantitative characteristics of infection of small mammals of various species during different seasons and years on the examined territories were obtained, that allowed to create a map of allocation of foci of hantavirus circulation that differ by structure.

Comparative phenetic (19 nonmetric cranial traits, for which 63 conditions are stated) and craniometric (used 32 characters) investigations of karyologically studied specimens of 4 chromosomal forms belonging to three species of the subgenus Terricola (Microtus): M. (T.) majori, M. (T.) daghestanicus, M.(T) subterraneus (2n = 52; 2n = 54) from Russia have been carried out for the first time. Craniometric studies (discriminant analysis of the absolute cranial measurements) confirm the isolation of the Caucasian sibling-species M. (T.) majori and M. (T.) daghestanicus and argue against the concept of the species status of the 52- and 54-chromosome forms of M. (T.) subterraneus. On the basis of phenetic and craniometric studies, the relationships between the Terricola representatives studied from Russia have been clarified The phenetic data confirm the allocation of the Pontian-Caucasian group of species. The results obtained are considered from the standpoint of the known phylogenetic hypotheses proposed on the basis of genetic approaches. They are used to discuss the origin of co-existing in the Caucasus sibling-species M. (T.) majori and M. (T.) daghestanicus.

The new data on the chromosomal and molecular-genetic (cyt b, p53) identification of newly found Microtus arvalis s. l. sibling-species from the Central Cherozem Region are presented. A total of 105 specimens of M. arvalis s. l. caught in 25 localities of Voronezh, Lipetsk, Tambov and Kursk regions were included into consideration. Thirty individuals of M. rossiaemeridionalis, 41 - M. arvalis (arvalis form) and 30 - M. arvalis (obscurus form) were found in the sampling, as well as four individuals with recombinant karyotypes, in which the chromosomal characteristics of M. arvalis obscurus form were dominated. New contact populations of M. arvalis s. l. sibling- species were identified and investigated. The chromosomal results are used to refine the boundaries of 46-chromosomal forms of M. arvalis s. l. in the Central Chernozemic Region and to search for a potential hybrid zone between them in the area studied. The contact and hybridization between two 46-chromosomal forms of M. arvalis s. l. was observed for the first time in the Usman district of the Lipetsk region (Izlegoshche-4). Another hybrid population between two 46-chromosomal forms of M. arvalis s. I. was found in the Manturovsky district of the Kursk region (Bukreevy Barmy). The hybrid populations were studied using molecular-genetic (cyt b, p53) markers along with chromosomal ones. The structure and width of the first identified hybrid zone in the Central Chernozemic Region were also investigated. The results obtained are used for discussing the taxonomic status of two 46-chromosomal M. arvalis s. l. forms (based on the biological concept of species) and for considering problems of evolution of M. arvalis s. l. sibling-species.