Order Rodentia - Family Muridae Author Guy G. Musser Author Michael D. Carleton text 1993 Smithsonian Institution Press Washington and London Editor Don E. Wilson Editor DeeAnn M. Reeder Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition) 501 755 book chapter http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7353098 1-56098-217-9 7353098 Apodemus arianus (Blandord, 1881) . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 5, 7:162 . TYPE LOCALITY: N Persia ( Iran ), Kohrud . DISTRIBUTION: From N Iran west through Iraq to Lebanon and N Israel (see Harrison and Bates, 1991 ); limits unknown. SYNONYMS: erythronotus , witherbyi . COMMENTS: Subgenus Sylvaemus . Usually listed as a subspecies of A. sylvaticus ( Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951 : Harrison and Bates, 1991 ), we separate it on the basis of its distinctive pelage and smaller body size. Both arianus and a larger, darker form (possibly wardi ) occur in N Iran , although Lay (1967:186) considered them ecological subspecies. The relationship between arianus , wardi , and the small A. uralensis requires taxonomic resolution. A. arianus may be the species represented by the sample from Qazvin , N Iraq , that Darviche et al. (1979) separated electrophoretically from A. sylvaticus and A. flavicollis , but still considered closer to the latter. Vorontsov et al. (1992) included arianus in A. uralensis .