Field Vole

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Field Vole
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Arvicolinae
Genus: Microtus
Subgenus: Microtus
Species: M. agrestis
Binomial name
Microtus agrestis
(Linnaeus, 1761)

The field vole or short-tailed vole, Microtus agrestis, is a grey-brown vole, around 110mm in length, with only a short tail. They are one of the most common mammals in Europe, ranging from the Atlantic coast to Lake Baikal. They are found in moist grassy habitats, such as woodland, marsh, or river banks. Although they dig burrows, they usually build nests above ground. As an important food source for owls and some other predators, their population peaks and troughs in a four-year cycle.

[edit] References

  • Amori (1996). Microtus agrestis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
  • Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894-1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
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