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The Insular Vole or St. Matthew Island Vole (Microtus abbreviatus) is a species of rodent in the Cricetidae family. There have been relatively few observations of the species, due to the inaccessibility of St. Matthew Island and the adjacent Hall Island, the only locations it has been found.[1] On these Bering Sea islands, Insular Voles live in damp lowland areas, on the lower slopes of mountains, and on rye grass-covered beaches. They are diurnal and eat plant matter. Birds and arctic foxes, which are the only other mammals on the island, prey on the voles.[2]
[edit] References
- Hafner, D.J. 1996. Microtus abbreviatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 19 July 2007.
- 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.
