Prior to 2013, Spalax was widely considered the only member of Spalacinae, with all blind mole-rat species being grouped within it. However, phylogenetic and morphological evidence supported some of the species within it forming a distinct lineage that diverged from the others during the Late Miocene, when a marine barrier formed between Anatolia and the Balkans. These species were reclassified into the genus Nannospalax, making Spalax one of two extant spalacine genera.[2]
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Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea." pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D. E. and D. M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Norris, R. W.; Zhou, K. Y.; Zhou, C. Q.; Yang, G.; Kilpatrick, C. W.; Honeycutt, R. L. (2004). "The phylogenetic position of the zokors (Myospalacinae) and comments on the families of muroids (Rodentia)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 31 (3): 972–978. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.10.020. PMID15120394.
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