Stoliczka mountain vole

Stoliczka mountain vole
	Stoliczka mountain vole ( Alticola stoliczkanus )
Systematics
Superfamily :	Mice-like (Muroidea)
Family :	Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily :	Voles (arvicolinae)
Tribe :	Myodini
Genre :	Mountain voles ( Alticola )
Type :	Stoliczka mountain vole
Scientific name
	Alticola stoliczkanus
	( Blanford , 1875)

The Stoliczka mountain vole ( Alticola stoliczkanus ) is a species of rodent belonging to the genus of the mountain voles ( Alticola ). It occurs in East Asia to northern South Asia in China , Nepal and in northern India in the Himalayas and adjacent mountain ranges.

features

The Stoliczka mountain vole reaches a head-trunk length of 10.0 to 12.1 centimeters with a tail of 1.4 to 2.4 centimeters in length . The rear foot length is 20 to 23 millimeters. The back fur is brownish gray, often with a reddish brown wash. The ventral side is pale grayish white and sharply demarcated from the back side. The tail is very short and covered with white hair.

The skull has a length of 25.0 to 28.0 millimeters. It corresponds to that of the Gobi-Altai mountain vole ( Alticola barakshin ), but the tympanic membranes (Bullae tympanica) are smaller with a length of about 7 millimeters.

distribution

The Stoliczka mountain vole occurs in East Asia to northern South Asia in China , Nepal and northern India in the Himalayas , the Tibetan highlands and adjacent mountain ranges. In China she lives in Xizang , southern Xinjiang , Qinghai and Gansu . In India the species is widespread in Ladakh , and perhaps it is also found in Bhutan . Individual records from Baltistan and Gilgit are considered problematic and could also be assigned to the Royle mountain vole ( Alticola roylei ). The Stoliczka mountain vole occurs at heights of up to over 4000 meters.

Way of life

The Stoliczka mountain vole lives mainly in dry and semi-arid steppe and scrub regions of the high mountains between the upper tree line and the lower snow line. It is diurnal and feed on herbivores of herbs and grasses of alpine meadows. The females can have offspring twice during the breeding season between April and August; the litter size is between four and five young.

Systematics

The Stoliczka mountain vole is classified as an independent species within the genus of the mountain voles ( Alticola ), which consists of twelve species. The first scientific description comes from the zoologist William Thomas Blanford from 1875, who described the species as Arvicola stoliczkanus on the basis of individuals from the Ladakh region in the Kashmir region in northwest India. The species was named after Ferdinand Stoliczka , who collected the type specimen on his Himalayan expedition. He died in 1874 and Blanford took over the description of the mammals and other parts of his collection.

Sometimes several subspecies were established. The nominate form A.s. stoliczkanus in northern India and southern China, As lama in Tibet and the Kunlun Mountains, and As bhatnagari in the southern Himalayas from Nepal to Sikkim.

Status, threat and protection

Although there is little information about the population and the actual range of the Stoliczka mountain vole, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classifies it as Least Concern. This is justified with the very large distribution area, the assumed large populations of the species as well as the good adaptability to habitat changes. There are no known threats to the existence of the species in the range of the species because no information is available.

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Stoliczka's Mountain Vole. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 218.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Alticola stoliczkanus in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2016.2. Posted by: S. Molur, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
↑ ^a ^b Alticola (Alticola) stoliczkanus . In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
↑ WT Blanford: List of mammals collected by the late Dr. Stoliczka when attached to the embassy under Sir D. Forsysth in Kashmir, Ladák, Eastern Turkestan, and Wakhán, with descriptions of new species. The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 44, 1875; Pp. 105–112 (first description of Alticola stoliczkanus on p. 107); Full text .

literature

Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Stoliczka's Mountain Vole. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 218.

Web links

Commons : Stoliczka Mountain Vole ( Alticola barakshin ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Alticola stoliczkanus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.2. Posted by: S. Molur, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2016.

[Smith_&_Yan_Xie_2009-1] Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Stoliczka's Mountain Vole. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 218.

[IUCN-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Alticola stoliczkanus in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2016.2. Posted by: S. Molur, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2016.

[Wilson_&_Reeder_2005-3] Alticola (Alticola) stoliczkanus . In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .

[Blanford_1875-4] WT Blanford: List of mammals collected by the late Dr. Stoliczka when attached to the embassy under Sir D. Forsysth in Kashmir, Ladák, Eastern Turkestan, and Wakhán, with descriptions of new species. The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 44, 1875; Pp. 105–112 (first description of Alticola stoliczkanus on p. 107); Full text .