Talpa altaica Nikolsky, 1883. Trans. Soc. Nat. St. Petersburg, 14:165.

TYPE LOCALITY: Siberia, Altai Mtns, Valley of Tourak.

DISTRIBUTION: Taiga zone of Siberia between Ob and Lena rivers; south to N Mongolia.

COMMENTS: Placed by Yudin (1989:52) in genus Asioscalops; but see Corbet (1978c:33). Kratochvll and Krâl (1972) provided karyological evidence for a separation of altaica from the remaining Talpa species.