Mexican vole

Mexican vole
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Arvicolinae
Genus:	Microtus
Subgenus:	Pitymys
Species:	M. mexicanus
Binomial name
Microtus mexicanus (Saussure, 1861)
Synonyms
Microtus mogollonensis (Mearns, 1890)

The Mexican vole (Microtus mexicanus) is a species of vole.

The Hualapai Mexican vole (M. m. hualapaiensis) was formerly recognized as a subspecies and was a protected taxon under the United States Endangered Species Act until 2017. Several other populations of the vole were previously named subspecies but are no longer recognized as distinct.

This species has a disjunct distribution in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It can be found in grasslands and other habitat types and is generally adaptable to a range of climate types.

The Mexican vole mainly feeds on grasses and the roots of shrubs and trees.(Beacham, 2000) In several studies, the Mexican vole was baited using two plant products, barley and oatmeal.^[2] It has also been noted to eat monarch butterflies.^[3]

The earliest description of the species was in 1861 by Swiss entomologist Henri de Saussure, a Swiss entomologist. Separate populations which appeared to have different morphologies were sometimes named subspecies, such as Microtus mexicanus mogollonensis, M. m. hualpaiensis, and M. m. navaho. Research continues on the relationships of different clades within the species.^{[citation needed]}

References

Further reading

• Beacham, Walton; Castronova, Frank V; Sessine, Suzanne (2000). "Hualapai Mexican Vole". Beacham's guide to the endangered species of North America. Gale Group. pp. 206–208. ISBN 978-0-7876-5028-5. OCLC 1102196416.
• Davis, Russell; Callahan, J. (18 December 1992). "Post-pleistocene dispersal in the Mexican vole (Microtus mexicanus): an example of an apparent trend in the distribution of southwestern mammals". Great Basin Naturalist. 52 (3).
• "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of the Hualapai Mexican Vole From the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife". Federal Register. 23 June 2017.
• "Microtus mexicanus (Saussure, 1861)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
• "Microtus mogollonensis (Mearns, 1890)". Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

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