The northern mole vole (''Ellobius talpinus'') is a species of

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 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.AgroAtlas
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Morphology

The northern mole vole is a small mammal about 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.

Chromosomes

The

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

has 2n = 54. The

Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

is absent, males and females both possess two X chromosomes per set as in the case of its relative '' E. tancrei'' (whereas for '' E. lutescens'' both sexes only have 1 X per set)''.''

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. 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 Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...

. 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.

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.IUCN Red Book
/ref> The animals feed on roots, bulbs,

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

s and the juicy

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s of plants, and in the summer and autumn they store small stocks of food. 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 . 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.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q302166 Ellobius Mammals of Central Asia Rodents of Europe Mammals described in 1770 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot