Qinghai vole

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Qinghai vole
Systematics
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea)
Family : Burrowers (Cricetidae)
Subfamily : Voles (arvicolinae)
Tribe : Myodini
Genre : Lasiopodomys
Type : Qinghai vole
Scientific name
Lasiopodomys fuscus
( Büchner , 1889)

The Qinghai vole or gray Mongol vole ( Lasiopodomys fuscus ) is a species of rodent from the subfamily of voles (Arvicolinae). It occurs in the highlands of Tibet in the south of Qinghai in the People's Republic of China .

features

The Qinghai vole reaches a head and trunk length of 11.0 to 15.0 centimeters with a tail 2.2 to 3.1 centimeters in length and a weight of 30 to 58 grams. The rear foot length is 18 to 22 millimeters, the ear length 14 to 19 millimeters. The body color of the animals is grayish-brown and on the sides of the body relatively sharply defined compared to the gray-sand-colored peritoneum. The tail is clearly two-colored with a brown top and a sand-colored underside. The tops of the hands and feet are grayish sand in color.

The skull has a length of 26 to 32 millimeters. As with all species of the genus, the molars are rootless and constantly grow back. Characteristic tooth features relate to the structure of the lower molar m2, which, in contrast to Brandt's Mongolian vole ( Lasiopodomys brandtii ) and the mandarin vole ( Lasiopodomys mandarinus ), has two inverted and converging triangles on the upper side after a front prism and a closed triangle instead of the typical three has closed triangles.

distribution

The Qinghai vole occurs in the highlands of Tibet in the south of Qinghai in the People's Republic of China .

Way of life

Little information is available about the way of life of the Qinghai vole. It lives in moist meadows in the grasslands of the high mountains at altitudes of 3700 to 4800 meters.

Systematics

The Qinghai vole is classified as a separate species within the genus Lasiopodomys , which consists of three species. The first scientific description comes from the German-Russian naturalist Eugen Büchner , who described the species in 1889 using individuals from the Zhidoi district in the Yushu district on the upper reaches of the Tongtian He in Qinghai. The species was partially assigned to the Blyth vole ( Phaiomys leucurus ).

Status, threat and protection

The Qinghai vole is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as not endangered (least concern). This is justified with the relatively large distribution area of ​​more than 20,000 km 2 and the assumed frequent occurrence of the species. Potential endangerment risks for the species are not known. Due to poisoning campaigns to control rodents on the Tibetan high plateau, the population densities have partially declined.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Brandt's 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. 227.
  2. ↑ a b c Lasiopodomys fuscus . 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 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Lasiopodomys fuscus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.2. Listed by: AT Smith, CH Johnston, 2008. Retrieved October 25, 2016.

literature

  • Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Smokey 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. 227.

Web links