Przewalski-Lemming

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Przewalski-Lemming
Systematics
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea)
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Voles (arvicolinae)
Tribe : Lagurini
Genre : Eolagurus
Type : Przewalski-Lemming
Scientific name
Eolagurus przewalskii
( Büchner , 1889)

The Przewalski lemming ( Eolagurus przewalskii ) is a rodent species from the subfamily of voles (Arvicolinae). It occurs in northern China and Mongolia . The species is named after the Russian officer and explorer Nikolai Michailowitsch Prschewalski .

features

The Przewalski lemming reaches a head-trunk length of 12.5 to 13.0 centimeters with a tail of 11 to 15 millimeters in length . The rear foot length is 19 to 22 millimeters, the ear length about 7 millimeters. The fur on the back is pale, sand-colored brown, the sides of the body are sand-yellow and merge into the white side of the abdomen, which can have individual gray hairs in some parts of the throat and abdomen. The top of the feet and the hair on the soles are white. The thumb (pollex) of the front feet has a large blunt claw. The tail is short, the top is sand-colored, and the underside is white. The Przewalski lemming differs from the Gelblemming ( Eolagurus luteus ) mainly in the white color of the abdomen, while the Gelblemming is yellow. The thumb claw of the gel emblem is also smaller and pointed.

The skull corresponds to that of the Gelblemming and differs from it above all in the larger tympanic bladders , which reach very far forward, as well as in the shape of the mastoid process (mastoid process).

distribution

The Przewalski lemming occurs in northern China in northern Qinghai and Gansu as well as Inner Mongolia and Mongolia .

Way of life

The Przewalski Lemming lives in mountain meadows and in river areas. He is diurnal and feed on herbivores of grasses, roots, tubers and seeds. The building is complex with three to seven exits and it contains up to three food stores and three nest chambers per tunnel system, plus other larger, non-specifically used chambers. Reproduction takes place between May and August and the females can have three litters in a year, each consisting of three to eight young.

Systematics

The Przewalski lemming is classified as an independent species within the genus Eolagurus , which consists of two species. The first scientific description of the species comes from the German-Russian naturalist Eugen Büchner , who described the species in 1889 using individuals from the Qaidam Basin in Qinghai.

Status, threat and protection

The Przewalski lemming is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as Least Concern due to the assumed high population numbers and the relatively large distribution area with occurrence in several protected areas. Risks to the entire population of the species are unknown.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Przewalski's Steppe 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. 222.
  2. ↑ a b Eolagurus przewalskii in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.2. Posted by: N. Batsaikhan, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ Eolagurus przewalskii . 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 .

literature

  • Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Przewalski's Steppe 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. 222.

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