Silver mountain vole
| Silver mountain vole | ||||||||||||
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Silver mountain vole ( Alticola argentatus ) |
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| Alticola argentatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Severtzov , 1879) |
The Silver Mountain Vole or Silberfell Mountain Vole ( Alticola argentatus ) is a rodent species from the genus of the mountain voles ( Alticola ). It occurs in large parts from Central to East Asia.
features
The silver mountain vole reaches a head-trunk length of 9.4 to 11.5 centimeters with a tail of 3.0 to 3.3 centimeters in length and a weight of about 25 to 40 grams. The rear foot length is 18 to 20 millimeters, the ear length 14 to 15 millimeters. The fur on the back and the sides of the body are usually straw yellow to brown with gray washings. On the sides of the body, it becomes paler towards the abdomen and merges into the grayish-white peritoneum. In contrast to the related Gobi-Altai mountain vole ( Alticola barakshin ) and Mongolian silver vole ( Alticola semicanus ), the peritoneum does not show any red parts. The top of the feet is white or grayish white. The tail reaches a length that corresponds to about a third of the length of the head and torso and is covered with white and pale brown hair. The top of the tail is often more brown than the bottom, but there is no clear dividing line.
distribution
The silver mountain vole is found in a large area in Central and East Asia from the west of the People's Republic of China in the Tian Shan in the provinces of Xinjiang and Gansu through parts of eastern Kazakhstan , Uzbekistan , Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the Hindu Kush in northern Afghanistan , in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan and in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir . The altitude distribution is around 1500 to 3600 meters.
Way of life
The silver mountain vole lives mainly in scree and rocky erosion areas in alpine meadows and pastures as well as in scrubland at altitudes of 1500 to 3000 meters, sometimes at higher altitudes. The animals are diurnal and feed strictly herbivore on green grass in spring and summer and on dry grass in winter. During the day, the grass is collected and dried on rocks exposed to the sun; the animals bring the hay to their nests. They create tunnels under stones and rocks and build a round nest with a diameter of 20 to 25 centimeters. They use high whistles to communicate.
Reproduction takes place in two periods, between April and August. The females give birth to four to five young per litter.
Systematics
The silver mountain vole is classified as an independent species within the genus of the mountain voles ( Alticola ), which consists of twelve species. The first scientific description comes from the Russian zoologist Nikolai Alexejewitsch Severzow from 1879, who described the species on the basis of individuals from the Alichur area in the Murghob district in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan. Sometimes the species was considered a subspecies of the Royle mountain vole ( Alticola roylei ).
Status, threat and protection
The Silver Mountain Vole is classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This is justified with the very large distribution area and the assumed large populations of the species. In the entire distribution area of the species, there are no known threats to the existence of the species; regionally, individual populations may be threatened due to overgrazing by local livestock farming.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Silver Mountain 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 , pp. 216-217.
- ↑ a b c d Alticola argentatus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.2. Posted by: S. Molur, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ Alticola argentatus . 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: Silver Mountain 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 , pp. 216-217.
Web links
- Alticola argentatus inthe IUCN 2016 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: S. Molur, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2016.