The Ganzu vole, Eva's red-backed vole, Eva's vole, Gansu vole, or Taozhou vole (''Caryomys eva'') 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 found in mountain forests in China. The IUCN has assessed it 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 Ganzu vole grows to a head and body length of with a moderate-length tail some long. The dorsal fur is dark reddish-brown and the underparts are dark grey, the guard hairs having buff-coloured tips. The upper surfaces of the hands and feet are dark brown. The tail is dark brown above and paler brown below but not obviously bicoloured as is the case in the closely related

Kolan vole The Kolan vole, Inez's red-backed vole or Inez's vole (''Caryomys inez'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in China. Two subspecies have been recognized, ''Caryomys inez inez'' from the northern part of its range ...

(''Caryomys inez''). The two species are also differentiated by the arrangement of the cusps on their

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...

Distribution and habitat

The Ganzu vole 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 regions of China where it is found in the provinces of

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 ...

, Gansu,

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

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 ...

and

Ningxia Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1 ...

. Its typical habitat is moist forest with an abundance of mosses and its altitudinal range is above sea level. It seems to occupy the ecological niche that red-backed voles (''Eothenomys'' sp.) occupy at lower altitudes.

Ecology

The Ganzu vole feeds on plant material including buds, leaves, shoots, grasses, seeds and bark.

Status

The Ganzu vole has a very wide range and is presumed to have a large total population. No specific threats have been identified for this species and there are several protected areas within its range. Although the population trend is unknown, it is unlikely that the species is declining at a fast enough rate to justify listing it in a threatened category 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 nat ...

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=Q305819 Caryomys Rodents of China Mammals described in 1911 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot