The grey red-backed vole or the grey-sided vole (''Myodes rufocanus'') is a species of

vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...

. An adult grey red-backed vole weighs 20-50 grams. This species ranges across northern

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

, including northern China, the northern

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, and the islands of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh ...

and Hokkaidō. It is larger and longer-legged than the

northern red-backed vole The northern red-backed vole (''Myodes rutilus'') is a small slender vole found in Alaska, northern Canada, Scandinavia and northern Russia.Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. Toronto, University of Toronto Press. Description They h ...

(''Myodes rutilus''), which covers a similar range and it is also sympatric with the Norwegian lemming (''Lemmus lemmus'').

Description

The grey red-backed vole has a reddish-coloured back and grey sides. It has a head and body length of and a tail length of . It can be distinguished from the bank vole by its larger size and distinctive reddish back and from the northern red-backed vole by its larger size, longer legs and relatively longer tail. Unlike some other species of vole in the genus '' Myodes'', the molar teeth of adults are rooted in the jaws.

Distribution and habitat

The grey red-backed vole is native to northern Europe and Asia. Its range extends from Norway, Sweden and Finland eastwards through northern Russia to the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and w ...

. It includes the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

, the Altai Mountains, northern Korea, Sakhalin Island, Japan, northern Mongolia and China. Its altitude range extends from sea level to in Scandinavia and to in the Khangai Mountains in Mongolia. Its typical habitat is dense undergrowth or rocky areas in coniferous or birch forests, often near rivers, but it is also found in clear cut areas of forests, rough grassland, subarctic shrubby heathland and dry peat bogs.

Biology

The grey red-backed vole feeds on grasses and small herbs, the leaves and shoots of sub-shrubs and berries. It prefers the

bilberry Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is '' Vaccinium myrtill ...

(''Vaccinium myrtillus'') to the northern crowberry (''Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum'') which contains unpalatable phenolic substances. In tundra regions, this vole exhibits outbreaks when its numbers increase substantially. These occur in a four to five-year population cycle the reasons for which are not fully understood but which may reflect changes in the abundance of certain specialised predators.

Lemming A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also includ ...

s have similar but more violent population explosions. These happen in the same years as vole outbreaks, but occur less frequently. This is partly because lemmings continue to breed during the winter months while populations of grey red-backed voles decline during the winter.

Status

The grey red-backed vole is listed by the IUCN 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 ...

". This is because it is a common species with a very wide range and faces no particular threats. Populations vary cyclically but may be declining somewhat in Fennoscandia, possibly due to changes in forestry practice.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q844638 Mammals of Asia Myodes Mammals described in 1846 Mammals of Japan