Biological species from the position of allozymic differentiation: studies of small mammals

The study deals with the allozymic differentiation which occurs in the process of speciation. The paper has summarized the author's investigation data on genogeographic variations, search of interspecies markers and analysis of genetic distances on the basis of 26 interpretative loci, in 31 species, from 5 unrelated small mammals' genera. It is shown that the allozymic differentiation structure adequately reflects the evolution process and describes its periods. The allozymes characteristics are useful and effective for taxonomic tasks solution (species-subspecies) in Spermophilus, Tamias, Myodes, Mus and some of Microtus. Their habitats history of formation can also be analyzed with them. The relation between caryological and allozymic differentiations can be considered as a characteristic of the taxons speciation path.