Field mice

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Field mice
Field mouse (Microtus arvalis)

Field mouse ( Microtus arvalis )

Systematics
Subordination : Mouse relatives (Myomorpha)
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea)
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Voles (arvicolinae)
Tribe : Arvicolini
Genre : Field mice
Scientific name
Microtus
Cabinet , 1798
Meadow vole ( Microtus pennsylvanicus )

The field mice or small voles ( Microtus ) are a genus of rodents from the voles subfamily . They include around 60 species that live in North America , Europe and Asia . The generic name is derived from the Greek; μικρός / small and οὖς / ear.

description

The head body length of the animals is 8 to 18 centimeters, the tail is rather short with 2 to 10 centimeters and usually measures less than half the head body length. The weight varies from 20 to 170 grams depending on the species. The fur of the animals is relatively long, it is yellowish, reddish brown, gray-brown or black on the upper side, the underside is lighter. The ears are small and almost completely covered by fur.

Way of life

Field mice inhabit different habitats, from tundras to dry grasslands to forests. Many species build underground burrows. They are usually crepuscular or nocturnal and do not hibernate . Social behavior is variable and sometimes puzzling. Some species live in colonies of hundreds of animals, but still react aggressively to one another.

Voles are strict herbivores that eat grass, leaves, twigs, tubers, seeds, nuts and other things. You often consume the amount of your own body weight within 24 hours.

The species

The exact number of species and the division into subgenera is still controversial. There are 63 types:

  • without assignment to a sub-genus
    • The island vole ( Microtus abbreviatus ) lives only on the islands of Hall and St. Matthews in the Bering Strait. Their degree of risk is unclear.
    • The California vole ( Microtus californicus ) inhabits the Pacific coast of the USA (from Oregon to California) and northern Mexico.
    • The yellow-nosed vole ( Microtus chrotorrhinus ) lives in southeastern Canada and the northeastern USA.
    • The Guatemala vole ( Microtus guatemalensis ) lives in southern Mexico and Guatemala.
    • The long-tailed vole ( Microtus longicaudus ) is common in western North America from Alaska to California.
    • The Mexican vole ( Microtus mexicanus ) lives in the southwest of the USA and large parts of Mexico. According to the IUCN, the species is endangered.
    • The Alaska vole ( Microtus miurus ) lives in Alaska and northwestern Canada.
    • The Richardson vole ( Microtus richardsoni ) is common in the Rocky Mountains of Canada and the northern United States.
    • The Zempoaltépec vole ( Microtus umbrosus ) is only known from the north of the Mexican state of Chiapas.
    • The yellow-cheeked vole ( Microtus xanthognathus ), one of the largest species, inhabits forests in Alaska and northern Canada.
  • Subgenus Microtus
    • The earth mouse ( Microtus agrestis ) lives in large parts of Europe and northern Asia.
    • The Anatolian vole ( Microtus anatolicus ) is only known from the area around the Turkish city of Konya.
    • The field mouse ( Microtus arvalis ) occurs from Western Europe to Siberia and China.
    • The Cabrera vole ( Microtus cabrerae ) is only found on the Iberian Peninsula.
    • The Dogramaci vole ( Microtus dogramacii ) is only known from the Amasya and Konya regions in Turkey.
    • Microtus elbeyli occurs in Anatolia in Turkey.
    • The Mediterranean field mouse ( Microtus guentheri ) lives on the Balkan Peninsula, in the Middle East and in North Africa (Libya).
    • The Kazakhstan vole ( Microtus ilaeus ) is distributed from the Aral Sea to northwest China.
    • The Iranian vole ( Microtus irani ) is only known from western Iran (Fars province).
    • The Eastern European field mouse ( Microtus levis ) occurs from Eastern Europe (Finland to the Balkans) to Siberia. It was introduced in Spitzbergen .
    • The Turkmenistan vole ( Microtus paradoxus ) lives in Turkmenistan and Northern Iran.
    • The Qazvin vole ( Microtus qazvinensis ) occurs exclusively in the Iranian province of Qazvin.
    • The Schidlovsky vole ( Microtus schidlovskii ) lives in Georgia and Armenia, but its exact range is unclear.
    • The Levant vole ( Microtus socialis ) is native to the eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and Central Asia to China.
    • The Tatra vole ( Microtus tatricus ) lives in the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia and Poland, possibly also in Ukraine and Romania.
    • Microtus transcaspicus is distributed from Turkmenistan via Iran to Afghanistan.
  • Subgenus Terricola
    • The Bavarian short-eared mouse ( Microtus bavaricus ) is known from the Bavarian Alps and Tyrol.
    • The Calabrian vole ( Microtus brachycercus ) inhabits the Calabrian Peninsula in southern Italy.
    • The Caucasus vole ( Microtus daghestanicus ) lives in the Caucasus region from southern Russia to Turkey and Azerbaijan.
    • The Mediterranean small vole ( Microtus duodecimcostatus ) lives in Portugal, Spain and south-eastern France.
    • The small vole ( Microtus felteni ) lives in the Balkans region from Serbia to Greece.
    • The Pyrenees vole ( Microtus gerbei ) is widespread in southwest France and northern Spain.
    • The Illyrian short-eared mouse ( Microtus liechtensteini ) is native to southern Austria and northern Italy to Serbia.
    • The Iberian vole ( Microtus lusitanicus ) lives in Portugal and parts of Spain.
    • The major vole ( Microtus majori ) is widespread from north-east Turkey to Iran.
    • The alpine vole ( Microtus multiplex ) lives in the western Alps and the Apennines.
    • The Italian small vole ( Microtus savii ) lives in Italy and southern Switzerland.
    • The Schelkovnikov vole ( Microtus schelkovnikovi ) occurs only in Azerbaijan and northern Iran.
    • The short-eared mouse ( Microtus subterraneus ) is common in northern and central Europe.
    • The small Balkan vole ( Microtus thomasi ) lives in the western Balkans from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Greece.
  • Subgenus Mynomes
    • The beach vole ( Microtus breweri ) is only known from Muskeget Island off the coast of the US state of Massachusetts.
    • The gray-tailed vole ( Microtus canicaudus ) lives in the northwest of the USA (Oregon, Washington).
    • The Rocky Mountains vole ( Microtus montanus ) inhabits mountainous regions in southwestern Canada and the western United States.
    • The Oregon vole ( Microtus oregoni ) is common in forests in southwestern Canada and the western United States.
    • The meadow vole ( Microtus pennsylvanicus ) lives in large parts of North America. The Gull meadow vole ( M. p. Nesophilus ) is an extinct subspecies.
    • The Townsend vole ( Microtus townsendii ) inhabits southwestern Canada and the western United States.
  • Subgenus Alexandromys
    • The Clarke vole ( Microtus clarkei ) lives in southern China and northern Myanmar.
    • The Evoron vole ( Microtus evoronensis ) is native to the Khabarovsk region in eastern Siberia. It is considered to be critically endangered.
    • The reed vole ( Microtus fortis ) lives in southeastern Siberia, on the Korean peninsula and in eastern China.
    • The Taiwan vole ( Microtus kikuchii ) is endemic to Taiwan.
    • The Chinese water vole or sea vole ( Microtus limnophilus ) occurs in northern China.
    • The Amur vole ( Microtus maximowiczii ) lives in eastern Siberia, Mongolia and northeast China.
    • The Middendorff vole ( Microtus middendorffii ) is widespread in northern Siberia from the Urals to the Kolyma.
    • The Mongolian vole ( Microtus mongolicus ) lives in Mongolia, Eastern Russia and Northeast China.
    • The Japanese vole ( Microtus montebelli ) is native to the Japanese islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Sado.
    • The Buryat vole ( Microtus mujanensis ) is known from only one place in the Russian Republic of Buryatia. The species is critically endangered, according to the IUCN.
    • The swamp mouse or Nordic vole ( Microtus oeconomus ) occurs from Scandinavia to Eastern Siberia and in northwest North America.
    • The Sakhalin vole ( Microtus sachalinensis ) is endemic to the Russian island of Sakhalin.
  • Subgenus Stenocranius
    • The narrow-headed vole ( Microtus gregalis ) is widespread from Eastern Europe across parts of Central Asia to Eastern Siberia.
  • Subgenus Pitymys
    • The Tarabundi vole ( Microtus oaxacensis ) is endemic to the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
    • The pine vole ( Microtus pinetorum ) lives in the eastern United States.
    • The Jalapa vole ( Microtus quasiater ) lives in eastern Mexico.
  • Subgenus Pedomys
    • The prairie vole ( Microtus ochrogaster ) lives in the Great Plains region of North America.

The Afghan voles ( Blanfordimys ), snow mice ( Chionomys ), Lasiopodomys , Neodon , the Blyth vole ( Phaiomys ) and the Bedford vole ( Proedromys ) are sometimes also counted among the field mice, but are listed as separate genera.

literature

  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
  • 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 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Charles W. Schwartz, Elizabeth R. Schwartz: "The Wild Mammals of Missouri", 2nd Ed., University of Missouri Press 2002, ISBN 978-0826213594 , p. 227.

Web links

Commons : Field mice  - collection of images, videos and audio files