Microtus Schrank 1798
Creators: name: Musser, Guy G.
name: Carleton, Michael D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 1993
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Muridae
Microtus

description: <i>Microtus</i> Schrank, 1798. Fauna Boica, 1 (1):72. TYPE SPECIES: <i>Microtus terrestris</i> Schrank, 1798 (= <i>Mus arvalis</i> Pallas, 1778). SYNONYMS: <i>Agricola, Alexandromys, Ammomys, Arbusticola, Arvalomys, Aulacomys, Campicola, Chilotus, Euarvicola, Hemiotomys, Herpetomys, Iberomys, Lemmimicrotus,</i> <i>Meridiopitymys, Micrurus, Mynomes, Neodon, Orthriomys, Pallasiinus, Parapitymys,</i> <i>Pedomys, Phaiomys, Pinemys,</i> <i>Pitymys, Psammomys</i> (of Le Conte, 1830, not Cretzschmar, 1828), <i>Stenocranius, Sumeriomys, Suranomys, Sylvicola, Terricola, Tetramerodon.</i> COMMENTS: Nowhere are the explosiveness and recency of arvicoline evolution more dramatically highlighted than by the inconsistency of systematic treatment of genusgroup taxa to be subsumed by <i>Microtus.</i> No consensus exists concerning the morphological limits or monophyly of many of these taxa, a situation which in part reflects the narrow reliance of our classifications on dental characters undergoing rapid change (see Guthrie, 1971; Koenigswald, 1980). Such variability and inconsistency of systematic opinion are epitomized by the taxon <i>Pitymys.</i> As noted by Carleton and Musser (1984:321), "Generally, paleontologists and European mammalogists accord <i>Pitymys</i> separate generic status (Corbet, 1978c; Koenigswald, 1980; Repenning, 1983), whereas North American workers view it as a subgenus of <i>Microtus</i> (Hall, 1981; Jones et al., 1975)." The geographic split among systematists is by itself instructive, as is the nature of the character base consulted by paleontologists versus neontologists. Similar disputes have surrounded the taxonomic history of other genus-group taxa associated with <i>Microtus,</i> such as <i>Arvicola, Blanfordimys, Chionomys, Lasiopodomys, Neodon, Phaiomys,</i> and <i>Proedromys.</i> Zagorodnyuk (1990) developed an interesting reclassification of <i>Microtus</i> and its kin. Although probably wrong on details, we believe that it offers an important philosophical alternative in the continuing examination of relationships among Microtus-like forms. In his arrangement of Arvicolini, Zagorodnyuk emphasized hypotheses of intracontinental origin and regional diversification of major clades of <i>Microtus.</i> Thus, pitymyine forms of the Old World <i>(Terricola)</i> are segregated from those of the New World <i>(Pitymys);</i> New World common voles <i>(Mynomes)</i> are separated from Old World voles such as <i>Microtus proper, Alexandromys,</i> and <i>Agricola;</i> and the invasion of the New World semiaquatic niche is recognized <i>(Aulacomys)</i> as independent of the Old World water-vole radiation <i>(Arvicola).</i> If we interpret them correctly, such a viewpoint is consistent with the preliminary results emerging from electrophoretic studies (Chaline and Graf, 1988; Graf, 1982; Moore and Janecek, 1990) and with some paleontological perspectives (e.g., Chaline, 1974). The more traditional notion of intercontinental dispersal and broad transcontinental distributions still receives stong support in the publications of Martin (1974, 1987), Repenning (1980, 1983), Repenning et al. (1990), and van der Muelen (1978). Although we question Zagorodnyuk's cardinal reliance on chomosomal traits and do not wholly embrace his ranking of taxa (e.g., <i>Neodon</i> and <i>Terricola</i> as genera), his classification of <i>Microtus</i> and related forms deserves serious attention in future studies. See accounts of <i>Blanfordimys, Chionomys, Lasiopodomys,</i> and <i>Proedromys,</i> often included in <i>Microtus</i> but which are here treated as genera. North American forms revised by Bailey (1900) and taxonomy updated by Hall and Cockrum (1953) and Hall (1981); many aspects of paleontology, taxonomy, zoogeography, and anatomy covered in Tamarin (1985). For synoptic coverage of the more diverse Palearctic <i>Microtus</i> fauna, see Corbet (1978c), Gromov and Polyakov (1977), Niethammer and Krapp (1982a), and Ognev (1963b, 1964).
description: Published as part of <i>Guy G. Musser &amp; Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, pp. 501-755 in Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London :Smithsonian Institution Press</i> on pages 517-518, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7353098
description: {"references": ["Guthrie, R. D. 1971. Factors regulating the evolution of microtine tooth complexity. Zeitschrift fur Saugetierkunde, 36: 37 - 54.", "Koenigswald, W. von. 1980. Schmelzstruktur und Morphologie in den Molaren der Arvicolidae (Rodentia). Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, 539: 1 - 129.", "Carleton, M. D., and G. G. Musser. 1984. Muroid rodents. Pp. 289 - 379, in Orders and families of Recent mammals of the world (S. Anderson and J. K. Jones, Jr., eds.). John Wiley and Sons, New York, 686 pp.", "Corbet, G. B. 1978 c. The mammals of the Palaearctic region: A taxonomic review. British Museum (Natural History), London, 314 pp.", "Repenning, C. A. 1983. Pitymys meadensis Hibbard from the Valley of Mexico and the classification of North American species of Pitymys (Rodentia: Cricetidae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2: 471 - 482.", "Hall, E. R. 1981. The mammals of North America. Second ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1: 1 - 600 + 90, 2: 601 - 1181 + 90.", "Zagorodnyuk, I. V. 1990. Kariotipicheskaya izmenchivost' i sistematika serykh polevok (Rodentia, Arvicolini). Soobshchenie 1. Vidovoi sostav i khromosomnye chisla [Karyotypic variability and systematics of the gray voles (Rodentia, Arvicolini). Communication 1. Species composition and chromosomal numbers]. Vestnik Zoologii, 2: 26 - 37 (in Russian).", "Chaline, J., and J. - D. Graf. 1988. Phylogeny of the Arvicolidae (Rodentia): Biochemical and paleontological evidence. Journal of Mammalogy, 69: 22 - 33.", "Graf, J. - D. 1982. Genetique biochimique, zoogeographie et taxonomie des Arvicolidae (Mammalia, Rodentia). Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 89: 749 - 787.", "Moore, D. W., and L. L. Janacek. 1990. Genic relationships among North American Microtus (Mammalia: Rodentia). Annals of Carnegie Museum, 59: 249 - 259.", "Chaline, J. 1974. Esquisse de l'evolution morphologique, biometrique et chromosomique du genre Microtus (Arvicolidae, Rodentia) dans le Pleistocene de l'hemisphere nord. Bulletin de la Societe de Geologie France, ser. 7, 14: 440 - 450.", "Martin, R. A. 1974. Fossil mammals from the Coleman IIA Fauna, Sumter County. Pp. 35 - 99, in Pleistocene mammals of Florida (S. D. Webb, ed.). The University Presses of Florida, Gainesville, 270 pp.", "Martin, R. A. 1987. Notes on the classification and evolution of some North American fossil Microtus (Mammalia; Rodentia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 7: 270 - 283.", "Repenning, C. A. 1980. Faunal exchanges between Siberia and North America. Canadian Journal of Anthropology, 1: 37 - 44.", "Repenning, C. A., O. Fejfar, and W. - D. Heinrich. 1990. Arvicolid rodent biochronology of the Northern Hemisphere. Pp. 385 - 417, in International symposium evolution, phylogeny and biostratigraphy of arvicolids (Rodentia, Mammalia) (O. Fejfar and W. - D. Heinrich, eds.). Geological Survey, Prague, 448 pp.", "Bailey, V. E. 1900. Revision of American voles of the genus Microtus. North American Fauna, 17: 1 - 88.", "Hall, E. R., and E. L. Cockrum. 1953. A synopsis of the North American microtine rodents. University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, 5: 373 - 498.", "Tamarin, R. H. (ed.). 1985. Biology of New World Microtus. Special Publication, American Society of Mammalogists, 8: 1 - 893.", "Gromov, I. M., and I. Ya. Polyakov. 1977. Fauna SSSR, Mlekopitayushchie, tom 3, vyp. 8 [Fauna of the USSR, vol. 3, pt. 8, Mammals]. Polevki [Voles (Microtinae)]. Nauka, Moscow-Leningrad, 504 pp. (in Russian).", "Niethammer, J., and F. Krapp, (eds.). 1982 a. Handbuch der Saugetiere Europas, vol. 2 / I. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft (Wiesbaden), 649 pp.", "Ognev, S. I. 1963 b. Mammals of the USSR and adjacent countries: Rodents (continued). (Mammals of eastern Europe and northern Asia) [A translation of S. I. Ognev, 1948, Zveri SSSR i prilezhashchikh stran: Gryzuny (prodolzhenie). (Zveri vostochnoi Evropy i severnoi Azii)]. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, 6: 1 - 508.", "Ognev, S. I. 1964. Mammals of the USSR and adjacent countries: Rodents (continued). (Mammals of eastern Europe and northern Asia) [A translation of S. I. Ognev, 1950, Zveri SSSR i prilezhashchikh stran: Gryzuny (prodolzhenie). (Zveri vostochnoi Evropy i severnoi Azii)]. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, 7: 1 - 626."]}