Brandt's vole, (''Lasiopodomys brandtii''), also known as the steppe vole, is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is native to

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

s and grasslands in Russia, Mongolia and northern China.

Characteristics

Brandt's vole is about long with a tail up to long. Its ears are small and the short fur is uniform sandy-brown, paler underneath. The tail is entirely brown and there are dense hairs on the hind part of the feet.AgroAtlas
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Distribution and habitat

Brandt's vole is found in Nei Mongol, Jilin, and Hebei provinces in north-east

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 ...

, in Mongolia and southern Transbaikalia in Russia. Brandt's vole is commonly found in grassland areas. Its typical habitat is dry

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

s and pastures. Its sometimes also found in lakeside meadows and river valleys.

Behaviour and ecology

Brandt's vole is a

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species. Each family establishes a network of burrows with several entrances, long passages, storerooms, and nesting chambers. The voles are active during both the day and night and their behaviour varies at different times of year. They feed on both the underground and aerial parts of plants. Large stores of food are laid up before the winter and the energy intake of the voles seems to be correlated with the length of day. There are four or five broods each year, with each litter consisting of about seven young. Population levels are subject to wide swings. Under unfavourable conditions, this vole can be wiped out of some of the regions in which it is normally found, but when the conditions are right, mass outbreaks can occur. This periodically happens in Mongolia when millions of hectares of pasture are invaded. Under this onslaught, the pastures can become very bare, poor

subsoil Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus, and it ...

can be brought to the surface by burrowing activities and coarse weeds can become established, seriously harming the grazing for domestic animals.

Cold adaptations

When exposed to cold temperatures, voles increase their resting metabolic rate. This increase is caused by increased activity from mitochondria in the vole's brown fat, as more energy is used in nonshivering thermogenesis to generate heat. Nonshivering thermogenesis, decreased serum

leptin Leptin (from Ancient Greek, Greek λεπτός ''leptos'', "thin" or "light" or "small") is a hormone predominantly made by adipose cells and enterocytes in the small intestine that helps to regulate Energy homeostasis, energy balance by inhib ...

levels, fat mobilization, and hyperphagia are all associated adaptations that the Brandt’s voles undergoes in cold environments. Hyperphagia leading to increased food intake is highest in colder months, but voles expend so much energy during this period that they weigh less in summer months.

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. *Dai, Xin; Zhou, Ling-Yu; Xu, Ting-Ting; Wang, Qiu-Yue; Luo, Bin; Li, Yan-Yu; Gu, Chen; Li, Shi-Ping; Wang, Ai-Qin; Wei, Wan-Hong; Yang, Sheng-Mei (2020-03-11). "Reproductive responses of the male Brandt's vole, Lasiopodomys brandtii (Rodentia: Cricetidae) to tannic acid". ''Zoologia''. 37: 1–11. doi:10.3897/zoologia.37.e52232. ISSN 1984-4689. {{Taxonbar, from=Q307031 Lasiopodomys Mammals described in 1861 Taxa named by Gustav Radde Taxonomy articles created by Polbot