The Mexican vole (''Microtus mexicanus'') is a species of vole. The Hualapai Mexican vole (''M. m. hualapaiensis'') was formerly recognized as a subspecies and was a protected taxon under the United States

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

until 2017. Several other populations of the vole were previously named subspecies but are no longer recognized as distinct. This species has a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It can be found in grasslands and other habitat types and is generally adaptable to a range of climate types. The Mexican vole mainly feeds on grasses and the roots of shrubs and trees.(Beacham, 2000) In several studies, the Mexican vole was baited using two plant products, barley and oatmeal. It has also been noted to eat monarch butterflies. The earliest description of the species was in 1861 by Swiss entomologist Henri de Saussure, a Swiss entomologist. Separate populations which appeared to have different morphologies were sometimes named subspecies, such as ''Microtus mexicanus mogollonensis'', ''M. m. hualpaiensis'', and ''M. m. navaho''. Research continues on the relationships of different clades within the species.

References

Further reading