Effect of Ecogeographic Factors along Latitudinal–Longitudinal Gradient on the Red Blood System of the Caucasian Snow Vole (Chionomys gud), a Species Autochthonous to the Caucasus

Abstract

Parameters of hematopoietic tissue and peripheral blood in the Caucasian snow vole (Chionomys gud Satunin, 1909), a typical mountain species of small mammals, have been studied for the first time along a latitudinal–longitudinal (rather than altitudinal) gradient. It has been found that the blood of snow voles living at the same elevation (1800 m a.s.l.) in the maritime climate of the Western Caucasus and in the continental climate of the Central Caucasus has similar oxygen-carrying capacity, but this is provided by different mechanisms. The results of this study suggest that the natural conditions of the Western Caucasus are most optimal for the species.