The first find of Julida in the Mongolian Altai

Another expedition of lecturers and students of Faculty of Biology to Mongolia under the supervision of Doctor of Biology R.V. Yakovlev took place in summer 2015. This time the route was running through the Altai Mountains in the western part of this country. In the course of the trip extensive collections of invertebrate animals (butterflies, beetles, spiders, centipedes, etc.) were gathered. The assortment of centipedes was collected by postgraduate student Alexander Fomichev. The processing and analysis of the new material made by Assistant Professor of the Department of Ecology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology P.S. Nefedyev and colleagues from Barnaul and Poland allowed to determine the habitation site of Diplopoda, an order that is new for the fauna of Mongolia.

So far, the only representative of Julida of Mongolia – Julus kazakus – was described only two years ago as a scientifically new species from Eastern Kazakhstan. Now it has been found in Western Mongolia at the altitude of 2,500 m above sea level, which is the highest point of habitation not only for this species, but for the whole Julus genus. Moreover, the habitat of the given genus was extended to the south-east.

“The performance of the inventory work on research of the Great Altai invertebrates biodiversity is one of the top-priority objectives of ASU biologists, which is being accomplished in close cooperation with the colleagues from Russia and foreign countries and provides the opportunity for the international exchange of experience,” says Candidate of Biology Pavel S. Nefedyev.