Gray-tailed Vole
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| Microtus canicaudus Miller, 1897 |
The gray-tailed vole is a common small mammal that inhabits grasslands in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon (Vert and Carraway, 1987). Gray tailed voles are polygamous: females are territorial, males have large home ranges that overlap those of several females, and juvenile emigration is male biased (Wolff et al., 1994).
[edit] Reproduction
Gray-tailed voles recognize relatives based on familiarity (Boyd and Balustein, 1985). Under laboratory conditions, familiar gray-tailed voles produced fewer litters than unfamiliar individuals (Boyd and Balustein, 1985) and pairings of relatives show lower pup survivorship than pairings of unrelated individuals (J. Peterson, personal communication with author).
[edit] Related Studies on this Species
For more information on the impact of habitat loss and fragmentation on the gray-tailed vole's behavior and demographics, see Wolff et al. (1997).
[edit] References
- Boyd, S. K., and A. R. Balustein 1985. Familiarity and inbreeding avoidance in the gray-tailed vole (Microtus canicaudus). Journal of Mammalogy 66:348-352.
- Vert, B. J., and L. Carraway. 1987. Microtus canicaudus. Mammalian Species 267:1-4
- Wolff, J. O., W. D. Edge, and R. Bentley. 1994. Reproductive and behavioral biology of the gray-tailed vole. Journal of Mammalogy 75:873-879.
- Wolff, J. O., E. M. Schauber, and W. D. Edge. 1997. Effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on the behavior and demography of the gray-tailed voles. Conservation Biology 11:945-956.
