Microtus arvalis

• Main Authors: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2017
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Rodentia; Cricetidae; Microtus; Microtus arvalis; Guernsey; Common vole
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/6725325; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6725325

175. Common Vole Microtus arvalis French: Campagnol des champs / German: Feldmaus / Spanish: Topillo campesino Other common names: Guernsey Vole (Guernsey |), Orkney Vole (Orkney |) Taxonomy. Mus arvalis Pallas, 1779, “Per omnen [= throughout] Europam & Russiam.” Based on neotype selection, restrict ed by V. M. Malygin and V. N. Yatsenko in 1986 to Pushkin, Leningrad (= St. Petersburg) Oblast, Russia. Microtus arvalis is in subgenus Microtus and arvalis species group. Species now in the subgenus Microtus (i.e. mystacinus, transcaspicus, and ilaeus) and few species in subgenus Alexandromys (e.g. mongolicus) were synonymized with arvalis. Microtus obscurus is most closely related to M. arvalis. The two species share identical diploid number (2n = 46) but differ in morphology of chromosomes: M. obscurus has ten pairs of acrocentric chromosomes and M. arvalis has four pairs. Their distributionsslightly overlap, and they hybridize in a narrow parapatric zone that is up to 10 km wide. Most individuals from this zone show intermediate chromosomal complements and contain arvalis mitochondrial markers, therefore implying asymmetrical introgression. Number of subspecies previously recognized under M. arvalis is large, without much consensus among authorities on actual number and distributions. As a result, usefulness of formal recognition of infraspecific entities was frequently questioned. Phylogeographic studies demonstrated several allopatric evolutionary lineages: Western, Central, Italian, Eastern, and Balkan. Western lineage (western Germany, Low Countries, Switzerland, France, and Spain) is further substructured into northern and southern sublineages. Currently regarded as monotypic but in need of further assessment. Distribution. From N Iberian Peninsula throughout most of Europe N & W to Denmark, SE Finland, and W European Russia, and SE to Macedonia and Bulgaria; also isolated populations on Is off the Atlantic coast of France (Noirmoutier, Yeu, and Oléron), Orkney Is in the N coast of Great Britain, ...