Blyth's vole (''Phaiomys leucurus'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

in the family

Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At almost 608 species, it is the second-largest family of mammals, and has m ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Phaiomys''. It is found in mountainous regions in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It is a burrowing rodent and lives in small colonies. It has a wide distribution and faces no particular threats so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Description

Blyth's vole has a head-and-body length of between and a tail length of . The dorsal fur is light yellowish-brown, the underparts are yellowish-grey and there is a gradual transition where the two colours meet. The upper surface of both fore and hind feet is yellowish-white, and the tail is unicoloured, being yellowish-brown both above and below. The ears are small and rounded and the claws long, both being adaptations for living underground.

Distribution and habitat

Blyth's vole is native to northern India, Nepal and the Tibetan Plateau in the provinces of

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

, the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a Provinces of China, province-level Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China in Southwest China. I ...

and

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

in western China, at altitudes of over . It inhabits forests and Alpine grassland on rocky mountains, burrowing especially in the banks of rivers and lakes, and sometimes tunnelling under boulders and making use of crevices between rocks. It also moves along passageways that it makes under lying snow.

Behaviour

Blyth's vole is a diurnal vole that mostly lives underground, with up to twenty individuals living colonially in a deep burrow system. It feeds on vegetable matter and can have litters of as many as seven offspring.

Status

Blyth's vole has a wide range and is assumed to have a large total population but has not been recorded from any particular protected areas. The population trend is unknown, but no particular threats have been identified other than loss of habitat, and the

has assessed the vole's conservation status as being of "

References

*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. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1763576 Arvicolini Mammals described in 1863 Rodents of China Rodents of India Mammals of Nepal Fauna of Tibet Taxa named by Edward Blyth Taxonomy articles created by Polbot