Short-eared mouse

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Short-eared mouse
Systematics
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea)
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Voles (arvicolinae)
Tribe : Arvicolini
Genre : Field mice ( Microtus )
Type : Short-eared mouse
Scientific name
Microtus subterraneus
( Sélys-Longchamps , 1836)

The short- eared vole or small-eyed vole ( Microtus subterraneus ) is a mammal from the subfamily of voles (Arvicolinae). The distribution area includes large parts of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as a narrow zone on the northern edge of Turkey. The species inhabits a wide range of habitats, in Central Europe mainly areas with loose, humus-rich soils on slopes. It is considered safe.

features

The species is similar to the field mouse , but is significantly smaller and has relatively smaller eyes. The head-trunk length is 77-105 mm, the tail length 24-40 mm, the length of the hind foot 13.0-16.1 mm and the ear length 7-10 mm. The animals weigh 13-23 g. The fur is softer and denser than that of the field mouse and brownish gray on top, the underside is whitish.

distribution

The range of the short-eared mouse is limited to Europe, apart from a small area on the northern edge of Turkey. It extends in a west-east direction from Brittany to the Don in south-west Russia . In a north-south direction, the largely closed area in eastern Europe extends from the Polish Baltic coast to northern Greece ; the occurrence in Estonia and neighboring Russia is geographically isolated as far as the vicinity of St. Petersburg . In western Europe, the distribution in north-south direction is significantly narrower. The southern border of the area runs through southern France and northern Italy, the northern border through the south of the Netherlands and then through Germany along the Wesel , Münster , Melle , Wolfsburg , Harz , Leipzig , Bautzen and Görlitz lines . To the north of this line there is an isolated population near Frankfurt (Oder) .

habitat

In Central Europe, the short-eared mouse shows a preference for slopes and loose soils with a lot of humus and needs ground vegetation to provide cover; Otherwise, however, the species is very adaptable in terms of its habitat requirements. It inhabits forests of all kinds, dry or wet meadows from sea level to above the tree line, as well as vegetable gardens and vineyards. Probably the occurrence in many areas is less limited by the habitat per se than by the presence of other vole species with a similar, partly subterranean way of life.

Way of life

Short eared mice live in colonies and are active during the day and night. The underground passage system is laid flat below the ground surface. Above-ground walkways are well covered under the vegetation, but the animals rarely move far from the burrow. The food, which is probably entirely plant-based, consists primarily of green parts of plants such as grass, herbs and moss, and storage organs such as tubers and onions as well as fruits and seeds are also eaten.

The reproduction takes place from March or April to November, an increase in winter has occasionally been proven. Most of the time, reproduction declines significantly in late summer. The gestation period is about 21 days. The litters are relatively small, they contain 1–4, mostly 2–3 young. The newly born young mice weigh about 2 g. The eyes open at 11–12 days of age; the boys are independent at around three weeks and sexually mature at three months of age. The lifespan in captivity was a maximum of 34 months.

Existence and endangerment

At least some populations show clear population fluctuations, but longer-term positive or negative population trends are generally not known. According to the IUCN, the world population is considered to be safe ("least concern"), in Germany the short-eared mouse is listed in the Red List as a type of warning list (Cat. "V").

swell

literature

  • Anthony J. Mitchell-Jones, Giovanni Amori, Wieslaw Bogdanowicz, Boris Krystufek, PJH Reijnders, Friederike Spitzenberger, Michael Stubbe, Johan BM Thissen, Vladimiŕ Vohralik, Jan Zima: The Atlas of European Mammals. Poyser, London, 1999, ISBN 0-85661-130-1 , pp. 250-251.
  • Erwin Stresemann (founder), Konrad Senglaub (ed.): Excursion fauna of Germany. Volume 3: Vertebrates. 12th, heavily edited edition. G. Fischer, Jena et al. 1995, ISBN 3-334-60951-0 , pp. 422-423.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The short-eared mouse on the IUCN Red List, distribution map
  2. ↑ AJ Mitchell-Jones, G. Amori, W. Bogdanowicz, B. Krystufek, PJH Reijnders, F. Spitzenberger, M. Stubbe, JBM Thissen, V. Vohralik, J. Zima: The Atlas of European Mammals. Poyser, London, 1999, p. 250.

Web links

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