Heather voles Temporal range: Early Pleistocene - Recent | |
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Skull of Phenacomys intermedius | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Cricetidae |
Subfamily: | Arvicolinae |
Tribe: | Phenacomyini |
Genus: | Phenacomys Merriam, 1889 |
Type species | |
Phenacomys intermedius | |
Species | |
The genus Phenacomys is a group of North American voles. The genus name comes from the Greek for "imposter mouse." [1]
These animals live in forested, alpine and tundra areas, which often include plants of the heath family. They are small rodents with long fur and short ears, legs and tails. They eat green plants, seeds and berries in summer and bark and buds of shrubs at other times. Predators include mustelids, owls and hawks.
Some sources include the tree voles, genus Arborimus , in this genus. At one time, the two species of heather vole were considered to be a single species.
The complete list of living species is:
Phenacomys intermedius, known as the western heather vole is a small rodent with a short tail that very closely resembles the montane vole and was even called the "deceiver mouse " for this reason. The hair of the heather vole is mostly gray to brown but the underside hair color is white to gray. In addition, these voles have whiskers extending to about their shoulders. This mammal burrows and is most active during the evening and night. [2] Western heather voles are mainly found in open coniferous forests that contain small shrubs or vegetation on the outskirts as well as meadows in British Columbia, Canada. This species of voles are relatively uncommon as only 52 were captured out of 659 total voles during a 3-year period in British Columbia while 366 Red-backed voles and 241 long-tailed voles were captured. [3]
The summer and winter diet of heather voles is predominantly kinnikinnick, a small shrub with evergreen leaves that produces red berries. These herbivores also feed on soapberry leaves and fruits during the summer months. [3] The winter diet of Phenacomys intermedius is bark of bush willow, dwarf birch,sheep laurel, and blueberry. Additionally, they do store food in piles at the entrances of burrows at night during the summer and winter then feed on the food during the day when it is safer. [4]
The western heather vole breeding season is from May to August and may be potentially shortened in populations living in high-elevations. A maximum of three litters has been reported with a pregnancy period of about 19 to 24 days and an average of 3 to 4 offspring per litter. Although these reports are of captive western heather voles and larger litter sizes of up to 7 are possible in wild voles. [2]
The range of western heather voles is restricted to the Pacific Northwest of North America, specifically Canada and they are the most common rodent in this area of the subfamily Microtinae. The range of western heather voles is not well known but their range is from west central British Columbia then south to California/New Mexico. There is an uncertainty of distribution such that they have even been found in parts of Alaska and this uncertainty is due to limited sample size of captured heather voles because they do not enter traps often. [5]
They tend to use willow as their habitat the most and heather plants less. They also prefer wet meadows and the borders of forests as well as rock, grassland and herbfield habitats when available. There is a variety of habitats for this species but they tend to live in areas with more vegetation cover compared to rock cover. [6] However, it has been reported that a mixture of medium to large rock cover was used as a habitat greater than equal sized or smaller rocks. [2]
While heather voles do have a feeding behavior towards seeds it was discovered that when provided different types of seed, heather voles had no preference between different types and ate very little seeds overall. This is thought to be due to the fact that P. intermedius mainly feed on leaves and berries while eating few seeds even when high in availability as shown in studies. This proves that heather voles generally do have a feeding behavior preference to leaves and berries rather than seeds. [7] Other than feeding behaviors, these mammals use short burrow systems during the summer months and build their nests for reproduction under a rock or stump. The nests are consisted of leaves,twigs, grass and other plants. They have been reported as having a temper when captured, specifically researchers have observed male to male aggression and females with offspring having aggressive behaviors towards intruders. The females are the single provider of the young and heather vole females have an equal ratio of male and female offspring. [2]
The heather vole has also been split into three distinct clades, the Oregon and California clade, the Washington clade and the Northern and Interior clade. It is speculated that intervals of glaciation over time may have led to the range growth and contraction of the species. It is thought that geographical barriers were present during this cycle of climate change prevented clades from associating and coming in contact with each other. [8]
Additionally, fossils of P. intermedius from the Pleistocene age have been found in northern Arkansas and Tennessee which is much more south then the current distribution. Lastly, during the Holocene time period, climatic change occurred and the only fit habitat was mountainous "islands" for the Phanacomys and eventually led to their extinction in certain areas such as the Great Basin range. [4] It is estimated that the Heather vole diverged from its most closely related sister lineage in the same subfamily of Arvicolinae about 5.37 million years ago. [8]
Unusual features in the teeth of Phenacomys voles suggest that the genus may have arisen relatively early within the evolutionary history of voles, probably in early Pliocene Beringia, from an Asian ancestor. The earliest American fossils date from about 1.5 million years ago, and were discovered in present-day Idaho. Similarly aged fossils belonging to two extinct species, P. gryci and P. deeringensis, have been discovered in Yakutia. During the Ice Ages of the Pleistocene, Phenacomys voles lived as far south as Arkansas. [1] Early Pleistocene fossils of Phenacomys have been found in the Netherlands. [9]
Spermophilus is a genus of ground squirrels in the squirrel family. As traditionally defined the genus was very species-rich, ranging through Europe, Asia and North America, but this arrangement was found to be paraphyletic to the certainly distinct prairie dogs, marmots, and antelope squirrels. As a consequence, all the former Spermophilus species of North America have been moved to other genera, leaving the European and Asian species as true Spermophilus.
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family of mammals, and has members throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
The Arvicolinae are a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. They are most closely related to the other subfamilies in the Cricetidae. Some authorities place the subfamily Arvicolinae in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea. Some refer to the subfamily as the Microtinae or rank the taxon as a full family, the Arvicolidae.
The taiga vole is a large vole found in northwestern North America, including Alaska and northwestern Canada. The name "taiga vole" comes from its living in the boreal taiga zone. It is also sometimes called the yellow-cheeked vole or chestnut-cheeked vole because of the rusty-yellow color on its face around its vibrisae (whiskers); The taiga voles derive their name from these features: "xantho" is Greek for yellow and "gnathus" is Greek for jaw. It is typically much larger than most other North American voles, especially those from the genus Microtus.
The western heather vole is a small vole found in western North America. Until recently, the eastern heather vole,, was considered to be a subspecies. They have short ears with stiff orange hair inside and a short thin tail which is paler underneath. Their long soft fur is brownish with silver grey underparts. They are roughly 14 cm (5.5 in) long with a tail length shorter than one-half their body length, approximately 50 mm (2.0 in). They weigh about 40 g (1.4 oz).
The eastern heather vole,, is a small North American vole. Until recently, this species was considered to belong to the same species as the western heather vole, Phenacomys intermedius. It is also called the Ungava vole.
Euryoryzomys russatus, also known as the russet oryzomys, russet rice rat, or big-headed rice rat, is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is a member of the genus Euryoryzomys, which was split off from Oryzomys in 2006. It was first described by Johann Andreas Wagner in 1848. It is found in southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. It is considered a large species in its genus, with a reddish-brown coat, long tail length, and large skull. It is a terrestrial rodent, spending its time foraging for seeds, fruits, and insects. It is listed by the IUCN as least concern, although studies have shown it to be influenced by anthropogenic disturbances. Predators consist of small members of the order Carnivora.
Oligoryzomys is a genus of rodents in the tribe Oryzomyini of family Cricetidae. Many species are known as pygmy rice rats or colilargos. The genus is found from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and includes approximately 17 species.
Ondatrini is a tribe of semiaquatic rodents in the family Arvicolinae. They are known as muskrats. They are related to voles and lemmings.
The silver mountain vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. They are distinguished by their silver-grey pelage, long vibrissae, rootless hypsodont molars and angular skull shape. Like many mammals of the Eurasian Steppe eco-region, they are well adapted to life in high altitudes, and can be found in mountain areas of Central Asia from Saur Mountains in the north-east to Kugitang Range in the west, and to Tibet and the Himalayas in the south.
The red tree vole is a rodent of the Pacific Northwest, found in the US states of Oregon and California. They were formerly known as Phenacomys longicaudus and have also been called the red tree mouse.
The European snow vole or snow vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It has dense, pale grey fur and a pale-coloured tail and can reach about 14 cm (5.5 in) long, with a tail which is 7 cm (2.8 in) long.
The rusty-bellied brush-furred rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, arable land, and pastureland.
The narrow-headed vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It was previously placed in the genus Microtus, but modern listings either lump this into genus Lasiopodomys or split it out into Stenocranius. It ranges over northern and central Asia.
The Jalapan pine vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae, found only in Mexico. The scientific name quasiater translates as "almost black", while the common name refers to the city of Jalapa, close to where the first specimen was collected.
The Zempoaltépec vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. The name Microtus is from the Greek word mikros meaning small and otus meaning ear. The name umbrosus could be from the Latin umbros meaning shady. It is rather large and has a long tail when compared with other voles. Its pelage is long and soft. In the upper parts, the hair is uniformly dusky with brown tips and the lower parts a dark grey thinly washed with a reddish yellow color. It is found only in Mexico, in a semi-isolated mountain range southeast of the Cajones River in Mixes district, in Oaxaca.
There are at least 50 small mammal species known to occur in Yellowstone National Park.
There are at least 9 large terrestrial mammals, 50 small mammals, and 14 marine mammal species known to occur in Olympic National Park.
Phenacomyini is a tribe of voles in the subfamily Arvicolinae. It contains five species in two genera, all of which are found in North America.