East European vole

East European vole
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Arvicolinae
Genus:	Microtus
Subgenus:	Microtus
Species:	M. mystacinus
Binomial name
Microtus mystacinus (de Filippi, 1865)
Synonyms
Microtus rossiaemeridionalis Ognev, 1924 Microtus epiroticusOndrias, 1966 Microtus levisMiller, 1908

The East European vole (Microtus mystacinus) is a species of vole (rodent) in the family Cricetidae. ^[2]

Distribution and habitat

It is found in Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Iran, Svalbard (accidentally introduced from 1920), ^[3] North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine and Norway.

Taxonomy

On Svalbard, they were first discovered in 1960 in the Grumantbyen area, and were thought to be the common vole until a genetic analysis correctly identified them in 1990. ^{[3] [4]}

References

1. Zagorodnyuk, I.; Henttonen, H.; Amori, G.; Hutterer, R.; Kryštufek, B.; Yigit, N.; Mitsainas, G. & Palomo, L. (2021) [amended version of 2016 assessment]. "Microtus levis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021 e.T13454A197293248. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T13454A197293248.en . Retrieved 4 January 2024.
2. Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1002. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
3. "Sibling Vole (Microtus levis)". The Norwegian Polar Institute. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
4. Karl Fredga; Maarit Jaarola; Rolf Anker Ims; Harald Steen (December 1990). "The 'common vole' in Svalbard identified as Microtus epiroticus by chromosome analysis". Polar Research. 8 (2): 283–290. doi: 10.3402/polar.v8i2.6818 .