Zoogeography and Comparative Ecology of Sibling Species Sicista (Rodentia, Dipodoidea) of the Caucasica Group

The authors’ and source data on the geographical distribution of the Sicista sibling species of the caucasica group (S. caucasica, S. kluchorica, S. kazbegica, and S. armenica) are summarized. For the first time, based on an analysis of our own collections obtained in the period from 1979 to 1990 and in 2010, environmental features (biotopic confinement, abundance, reproduction strategy, and food specializations) are compared for several geographically replacing Sicista sibling species of the caucasica group (S. caucasica, S. kluchorica, S. kazbegica, and S. armenica), inhabiting different sectors of the middle mountains and highlands of the Caucasus, considered in a comparative aspect in connection with the differentiation of the group.