Mammal Species of the World Logo

 

HOME --> CLASS MAMMALIA  --> ORDER RODENTIA  --> SUBORDER MYOMORPHA  --> SUPERFAMILY Muroidea  --> FAMILY Cricetidae  --> SUBFAMILY Arvicolinae  --> GENUS Microtus  --> SUBGENUS Microtus

SPECIES Microtus (Microtus) agrestis

Author:Linnaeus, 1761.
Citation:Fauna Suecica, 2nd ed.: 11.
Common Name:Field Vole
Type Locality:Sweden, Uppsala.
Distribution:Britain and nearby small islands (except Ireland); continental distribution extends from Scandinavia and Baltic region (Miljutin, 1997, 1998; Timm et al., 1998) east through Siberia to the Lena River; in the south from N and C Portugal, Pyrennes of N Spain (Brunet-Lecomte, 1991; Castiens and Gosalbez, 1992; Torre et al., 1996), France, Belgium, Netherlands (Lange, 1992), Germany (Dolch et al., 1994), Switzerland (Hausser, 1995), Austria, Czech Republic (Andĕra and Červený, 1994; Šmaha, 1996), Slovakia (Danko, 1994; Kminiak, 1996; Mošanský, 1994; Stanko, 1995; Stanko and Mošanský, 1994, 2000; Stanko et al., 2000), N Italy (Amori et al., 1999; Locatelli and Paolucci, 1996a), Poland, Hungary, Slovenia (Kryštufek, 1991), east through N Croatia and N Bosnia and Herzegovina (Petrov, 1992), N Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, and Kazhakstan to S Urals, Altai Mtns, NW China (NW Xinjiang; Zhang et al., 1997), and Lake Baikal region (Corbet, 1978c; Krapp and Niethammer, 1982; Mitchell-Jones et al., 1999).
Status:IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).
Comments:

Subgenus Microtus, agrestis species group sensu Zagorodnyuk (1990). Considered a member of subgenus Microtus by Pavlinov et al. (1995a), Gromov and Erbajeva (1995), and Meyer et al. (1996), but placed in subgenus Agricola by Zagorodnyuk (1990). Although once regarded as conspecific with North American M. pennsylvanicus on morphological grounds (Klimkiewicz, 1970), chomosomal differences indicate those similarities to represent convergence, not phylogenetic alliance (Vorontsov and Lyapunova, 1976; Zagorodnyuk, 1990). Phylogenetic inference based on cytochrome b sequences also widely separated M. agrestis from any North American Microtus (Conroy and Cook, 2000a), and allozymic analysis isolated it by large genetic distances from nine other Eurasian Microtus sampled (Mezhzherin et al., 1993).

Distribution in Portugal, Spain and France and morphometric discrimination from other Microtus and Chionomys in the region documented by Madureira (1983). Kooij et al. (1997) employed multivariate analyses to identify dentaries extracted from owl pellets as either M. agrestis or M. arvalis; Brunet-Lecomte et al. (1996) confidently discriminated the two species based on analysis of m1s; Kapischke (1992) recognized six distinct molar surface patterns in samples from Germany. Chromosomal data reviewed by Zima and Kral (1984a). Almaça (1993) assessed variation in pelage color, morphometrics, and dental traits among samples from N Portugal, Massif Central of France, and French lowlands and found little support for traditional subspecies but detected clinal variation between highland and lowland populations. Sequence analysis of mitochondrial DNA subdivided Eurasian M. agrestis into three allopatric clades, suggesting extended isolation in different glacial refugia (Jaarola and Searle, 2002): western (W and C Europe, spreading from the Carpathians); eastern (Lithuania to C Asia, originating from the S Urals or Caucasus); and southern (Portugal to Hungary, expanding from the Iberian Peninsula and perhaps representing a separate species).

EXPORT AS CSV Back to search results

Offspring:

Synonyms:

    agrestoides Hinton, 1910
    angustifrons (Fatio, 1905)
    arcturus Thomas, 1912
    argyropoli Ognev, 1944
    argyropuli Ognev, 1950
    argyropuloi Ognev, 1952
    armoricanus Heim de Balsac and Beaufort, 1966
    bailloni (de Sélys Longchamps, 1841)
    britannicus (de Sélys Longchamps, 1847)
    bucklandii (Giebel, 1847)
    carinthiacus Kretzoi, 1958
    enez-groezi Heim de Balsac and Beaufort, 1966
    estiae Reinwaldt, 1927
    exsul Miller, 1908
    fiona Montagu, 1922
    gregarius (Linneaus, 1766)
    hirta (Bellamy, 1839)
    insul Lydekker, 1909
    insularis (Nilsson, 1844)
    intermedia (Bonaparte, 1845)
    latifrons (Fatio, 1905)
    levernedii (Crespon, 1844)
    luch Barrett-Hamilton and Hinton, 1913
    macgillivrayi Barrett-Hamilton and Hinton, 1913
    mial Barrett-Hamilton and Hinton, 1913
    mongol Thomas, 1911
    neglectus (Jenyns, 1841)
    nigra (Fatio, 1869)
    nigricans (Kerr, 1792)
    ognevi Scalon, 1935
    orioecus Cabrera, 1924
    pannonicus Ehik, 1924
    pallida Melander, 1938
    punctus Montagu, 1923
    rozianus (Bocage, 1865)
    rufa (Fatio, 1900)
    scaloni Heptner, 1948
    tridentinus Dal Piaz, 1924
    wettsteini Ehik, 1928

  Bucknell Home Page   Biology Department Home Page

 

©Bucknell Univesity All Rights Reserved
Comments and questions to dreeder@bucknell.edu