Martino snow mouse

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martino snow mouse
Systematics
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea)
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Voles (arvicolinae)
Tribe : Pliomyini
Genre : Dinaromys
Type : Martino snow mouse
Scientific name
Dinaromys bogdanovi
( V. Martino & E. Martino , 1922)

The Martino-snow mouse ( Dinaromys Bogdanovi ) is exclusively in the mountains of the Balkans common vole . She lives on the territories of Croatia , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Serbia and Montenegro and Macedonia . That the species was once more widespread is shown by fossil finds from the Pleistocene in Italy , Hungary and Greece . Although it is geographically found in a very narrow range, it is very common in some places. For example, it is the most common and most individual mammal in Montenegro .

The head body length is 10 to 15 cm, plus 8 to 11 cm of tail. The fur is gray-brown on top and light gray on the underside. Martino snow mice occur at altitudes between 1300 and 2200 m. They are nocturnal, during the day they hide under rocks. The food is grass. Food supplies are created for the winter.

Systematic position

Within the voles the type traditionally the relationship of Rötelmäuse assigned and thus the tribe of Clethrionomyini. But this is not undisputed. On the contrary, closer investigations indicate that the Martino snow mouse is not closely related to any living member of the voles. The Russian zoologist Igor Zagorodnyuk counts them as part of the Pliomyini tribe, which is otherwise extinct today and was common in Eurasia during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. It is therefore the last living representative of a species-rich taxon until the last Ice Age . For the Martino snow mouse , the generic name Dolomys was sometimes used. This generic name is now only related to some of their extinct relatives.

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 .

Web link