Bog lemming

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Bog lemmings
Temporal range: Early Pliocene - recent
Bog lemming.gif
Southern bog lemming
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Arvicolinae
Tribe: Lemmini
Genus: Synaptomys
Baird, 1857
Type species
Synaptomys cooperi
Species

Synaptomys borealis
Synaptomys cooperi
Synaptomys australis

Contents

Synaptomys is a genus of North American lemmings. These animals live in wet forested and open areas. They are small, cylindrical rodents with large heads and short ears, legs, and tails. They eat green vegetation such as grasses and sedges. They are often found in colonies.

Systematics

The genus Synaptomys comprises two extant species and 10 extinct species. S. borealis is sometimes placed in the genus Mictomys.

Extant species

Extinct species

A number of other fossil species have been included here but have since been transferred to other genera, such as Mictomys [5] and Praesynaptomys . [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arvicolinae</span> Subfamily of rodents

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern bog lemming</span> Species of mammal

The northern bog lemming is a small North American lemming. It is one of two species in the genus Synaptomys, the other being the southern bog lemming. It is sometimes placed in its own genus, Mictomys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern bog lemming</span> Species of mammal

The southern bog lemming is a small North American lemming. Its range overlaps with the other species in genus Synaptomys, the northern bog lemming, in southeastern Canada, but extends farther south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemmini</span> Tribe of lemmings

Lemmini is a tribe of lemmings in the subfamily Arvicolinae. Species in this tribe are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemming</span> Tribe of rodents of the family Cricetidae

A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats, mice, hamsters, and gerbils. In popular culture, a longstanding myth holds that they exhibit herd mentality and jump off cliffs, committing mass suicide.

Euschoengastia peromysci is a mite in the genus Euschoengastia of the family Trombiculidae. Recorded hosts include the cotton mouse and marsh rice rat in Georgia; the northern short-tailed shrew, northern red-backed vole, northern flying squirrel, rock vole, white-footed mouse, and deermouse in Tennessee; and northern red-backed vole, southern bog lemming, masked shrew, and eastern red squirrel in North Carolina, among others.

Listrophorus is a genus of parasitic mites in the family Listrophoridae. North American species with their hosts include:

Prolistrophorus grassii is a parasitic mite in the genus Prolistrophorus. It was described as Listrophorus grassii in 1954 from the marsh rice rat in Georgia. In 1974, Fain and Hyland placed it in Prolistrophorus and in 1984, Fain and Lukoschus redescribed the species on the basis of collections from the marsh rice rat in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida and the southern bog lemming in Indiana, West Virginia, and Iowa.

Synaptomys australis, the Florida bog lemming, is an extinct species of bog lemming that occurred in Florida during the Late Pleistocene.

References

  1. "Synaptomys borealis - Northern Bog Lemming". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  2. "Synaptomys cooperi - Southern Bog Lemming". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Synaptomys". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  4. 1 2 Kurtén, Björn; Elaine Anderson (1980). Pleistocene Mammals of North America. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 268–269. ISBN   0-231-03733-3 . Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  5. "Mictomys". Fossilworks.
  6. "Praesynaptomys". Fossilworks.

Further reading