A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, and smaller ears and eyes. Suborders Sciuromorpha Castorimorpha Myomorpha Anomaluromorpha Hystricomorpha Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents. ... Feral mouse A mouse (plural mice) is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. ...

Description

Most vole species have rootless molars that fold into a series of triangles. Voles are one of the few rodents whose molars continue to grow during their entire life. Voles are closely related and quite similar to lemmings. A molar is the fourth kind of tooth in mammals. ... Lemming or Lemmings can refer to: A small rodent — see Lemming A computer game — see Lemmings (video game) This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ...

Voles exhibit complex genetic structures with much variation, and appear to be evolving rapidly when compared to other vertebrates. Species have been found with anywhere from 17-64 chromosomes. Female voles have been found with chromosomes from both sexes. All of these variations result in very little physical aberration: most vole species are virtually indistinguishable.^[1]

Adult voles, depending on the species, are three to seven inches tall.

Range

Sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in America, approximately 70 species of voles can be found in Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ...

Diet

Depending on the species, the vole's diet consists of seeds, tubers, conifers needles, bark, various green vegetation such as grass and clover, and insects. A ripe red jalapeño cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ... A tuber is a part of a rhizome thickened for use as a storage organ, usually, though not always, subterranean, such as a potato. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Species See text Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Trifolium Clover (Trifolium) is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. ...

Predators

Many carnivores such as wolves, owls, hawks, coyotes, foxes, weasels, cats eat voles. A common predator to voles is the Short-eared owl. This article deals with meat-eating animals. ... Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call... Families Strigidae Tytonidae Ogygoptyngidae (fossil) Palaeoglaucidae (fossil) Protostrigidae (fossil) Sophiornithidae (fossil) Synonyms Strigidae sensu Sibley & Ahlquist Owls are a group of birds of prey. ... Genera Accipiter Micronisus Melierax Urotriorchis Erythrotriorchis The term hawk refers to birds of prey in any of three senses: Strictly, to mean any of the species in the bird sub-family Accipitrinae in the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis, and Megatriorchis. ... Binomial name Say, 1823 Coyote range The coyote (Canis latrans) also known as the prairie wolf [2]) is a mammal of the order carnivora. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... It has been suggested that boogle be merged into this article or section. ... “Feline” redirects here. ... Binomial name Asio flammeus (Pontoppidan, 1763) The Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) is a species of typical owl (family Strigidae). ...

Age

The average life of a vole is 3–6 months. Voles rarely live longer than 12 months. The longest lifespan of a vole ever recorded was 18 months.

Sex

The prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster, is a notable animal model for sexual fidelity, since the male is usually faithful to the female, and shares in the raising of pups. A closely related species, the meadow vole, has promiscuously mating males, and scientists have changed meadow voles' behavior to resemble that of prairie voles in experiments in which a single gene was introduced into the brains of adult males via a virus.^[2] The behavior is influenced by the number of repetitions of a particular string of microsatellite ("junk") DNA, and the same DNA sequence is found in humans. Male prairie voles with the longest DNA strings spend more time with their mates and pups than male prairie with shorter strings.^[3] However, other workers have disputed the gene's relationship to monogamy, and cast doubt on whether the human version plays an analogous role.^[4] Binomial name Microtus ochrogaster (Wagner, 1842) The Prairie Vole, Microtus ochrogaster, is a small vole found in central North America. ... Binomial name Microtus pennsylvanicus (Ord, 1815) The Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), sometimes called the Field Mouse or Meadow Mouse, is a small North American vole found across Canada, Alaska and the northern United States. ...

See also

• Vole Clock

The Vole clock is a method of dating archaeological strata. ...

References

1. ^ Rodent's bizarre traits deepen mystery of genetics, evolution Accessed February 25, 2007
2. ^ Lim et al., Nature 429, 754-757 (17 June 2004), summarized at http://research.yerkes.emory.edu/Young/Pictures/PDFs/PRESS/Lotharios%20tamed%20by%20brain%20protein%20Could%20gene%20therapy%20cure%20promiscuous%20behaviour.htm
3. ^ Hammock and Young,Science. 2005 Jun 10;308(5728):1630-4, summarized at New York Times, June 10, 2005, "DNA of Voles May Hint at Why Some Fathers Shirk Duties."
4. ^ S. Fink et al, PNAS, July 18, 2006, vol. 103, no. 29, 10956-10960

External links

• Voles.com, pictures and information about voles and vole related topics

• Pest control article.