Zokor

Zokors are Asiatic burrowing rodents resembling mole-rats. They include two genera, Myospalax and Eospalax. Zokors are native to much of China, Kazhakstan, and Siberian Russia.

Traditionally, zokors were thought to be closely related to either hamsters (Cricetinae) or voles (Arvicolinae), but recent molecular phylogenetic studies have demonstrated they are more closely related to blind mole-rats (Spalacinae) and root and bamboo rats (Rhizomyinae) in the family Spalacidae. It appears as if one of the first important evolutionary splits in muroid rodents is between burrowing forms and nonburrowing forms.