Northern mole vole

2017-01-08T20:46:20Z

Monkbot: /* Biology */Task 11: cs1|2 maint: multiple authors/editors fixes;

{{Taxobox
| name = Northern mole vole
| image = Ellobius talpinus.jpg
| status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{IUCN2014.2|assessor=Tsytsulina, K.|assessor2=Zagorodnyuk, I.|year=2008|id=7656|title=Ellobius talpinus|downloaded=11 October 2014}}</ref>
| regnum = [[Animalia]]
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammalia]]
| ordo = [[Rodent]]ia
| familia = [[Cricetidae]]
| genus = ''[[Ellobius]]''
| species = '''''E. talpinus'''''
| binomial = ''Ellobius talpinus''
| binomial_authority = ([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1770)
| synonyms = ''E. ciscaucasicus'' Sviridenko, 1936 
''E. murinus'' Pallas, 1770 
''E. rufescens'' Eversmann, 1850 
''E. tanaiticus'' Zubko, 1940 
''E. transcaspiae'' Thomas, 1912<ref>[http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=13000206 Mammal Species of the World]</ref> 
''Mus talpinus'', Pallas 
''Spalax murinus'', Pallas 
''Georychus rufescens,'' Eversmann<ref>http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=13000206</ref>
}}

The '''northern mole vole''' (''Ellobius talpinus'') is a species of [[rodent]] in the family [[Cricetidae]].<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Muroidea | id = 13000206 | pages = 975–976}}</ref>
It is distributed over large parts of Eastern Europe and Asia.

==Distribution==
This vole is found in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine, the southern parts of Russia, western Siberia, northern Afghanistan, Mongolia and northern China.<ref name="AG">[http://www.agroatlas.ru/en/content/pests/Ellobius_talpinus/ AgroAtlas]</ref>

==Morphology==
The northern mole vole is a small mammal about {{convert|130|mm|in|abbr=on}} long with a short tail, weighing up to 70 g. The females are slightly larger than the males. The body is wedge-shaped, the head flat, the neck short and the musculature of the forelimbs strongly developed. It has short, dense, brownish fur somewhat paler on the underparts. The feet are naked and pink. It is adapted to life underground, digging its burrows with the help of its large incisors.<ref name="AG"/>

==Chromosomes==
The [[karyotype]] has [[Diploid|2n]] = 54. The [[Y chromosome]] is present, unlike in the cases of its relatives ''[[Ellobius lutescens|E. lutescens]]'' and ''[[Ellobius tancrei|E. tancrei]]''.<ref name = "Bagheri-Fam2012">{{cite journal|author=Bagheri-Fam, S|title=Sox9 gene regulation and the loss of the XY/XX sex-determining mechanism in the mole vole ''Ellobius lutescens''.|journal=Chromosome Research|date=January 2012|volume=20|issue=1|pmid=22215485|doi=10.1007/s10577-011-9269-5|pages=191–9|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

==Biology==
The northern mole vole is diurnal and active all day. Activity decreases during periods of drought and in the winter, but there is no true hibernation period.<ref name="AG"/> A study undertaken in 2001 found the vole's adaptation to the extremes of the continental climate is based on distinct seasonal variations of [[thermoregulation]].<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 11731978 | doi=10.1086/324750 | volume=74 | title=Seasonal changes of thermoregulation in the mole vole Ellobius talpinus | journal=Physiol Biochem Zool | pages=869-75 |vauthors=Moshkin MP, Novikov EA, Petrovski DV }}</ref> The gestation period lasts three weeks, with three or four litters a year, with two to four young voles in each. These grow rapidly and are sexually mature at the age of six weeks.<ref name="AG"/>

==Ecology==
This vole is a colonial species, living in groups of about 10 individuals, typically a family group of one pair of adults and young animals from one or two litters. The burrows are complex, the entrances are usually sealed by soil and the nesting chambers and fodder chambers are usually about 4 m (13 ft) beneath the surface.<ref name="IUCN">[http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/7656/0 IUCN Red Book]</ref> The animals feed on roots, bulbs, [[tuber]]s and the juicy [[rhizome]]s of plants, and in the summer and autumn they store small stocks of food.<ref name="AG"/> They seldom emerge onto the surface except to distribute soil excavated from the burrow or to move to new territories, at which times they can cover distances of up to {{convert|800|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="IUCN"/> The population size varies, being limited by infectious diseases, parasites, severe winters with deep-frozen ground, spring flooding of burrows by melt water and predatory birds and mammals.<ref name="AG"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Arvicolinae}}

[[Category:Voles and lemmings]]
[[Category:Mammals of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Rodents of Europe]]
[[Category:Animals described in 1770]]

Kazakhstan Encyclopedia - User contributions [en]

Northern mole vole