The Chinese scrub vole, or Irene's mountain vole, (''Neodon irene'') 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 n ...

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 h ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to mountainous parts of southern China and is very similar to the Sikkim mountain vole in appearance. 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 nat ...

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

The Chinese scrub vole has a head-and-body length of between and a tail length of . The dorsal fur is greyish-brown, the underparts are dark grey and there is an intermediate strip of ochre-brown where the two colours meet. The upper surface of both fore and hind feet are brownish-white and the tail is bicoloured, being brown above and white below. The Chinese scrub vole is very similar in appearance to the

Sikkim mountain vole The Sikkim mountain vole (''Neodon sikimensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Bhutan, India, Nepal and China. Description The Sikkim mountain vole has a head-and-body length of between and a tail length of . ...

(''Neodon sikimensis''), but it is slightly smaller and the two can be distinguished by examination of their dentition.

Distribution and habitat

The Chinese scrub vole is

to China where it occurs in high mountains in the provinces of eastern

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 ...

, southern Gansu, western

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, northeastern

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of � ...

and northwestern

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

. It is usually found in Alpine meadows and on shrubby hillsides.

Behaviour

Like other voles, the Chinese scrub vole feeds mainly on plant material. Little is known of its reproductive biology, but a female with three advanced-stage embryos has been found in August.

Status

The Chinese scrub vole has a wide range and is assumed to have a large total population. It is present in several national nature reserves. The population trend is unknown, but no specific threats have been identified and the

has assessed its 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=Q1764716 Neodon Mammals described in 1911 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Rodents of China Endemic fauna of China Fauna of Tibet Taxonomy articles created by Polbot