Search results for "Microtus"

Attraction of kestrels to vole scent marks visible in ultraviolet light

1995

IN northern Europe, broad four-year oscillations in small rodent and raptor populations are synchronous over hundreds of square kilometers1–6. Crashes in vole populations can induce wide emigration (> 1,000 km) of their predators7 –9, but almost nothing is known about how predators rapidly detect areas of vole abundance. Here we report on laboratory and field experiments on voles (Microtus agrestis) and kestrels (Falco tinnunculus). Voles mark their runaways with urine and faeces, which are visible in ultraviolet light. Wild kestrels brought into captivity were able to detect vole scent marks in ultraviolet light but not in visible light. In the field, kestrels hunted preferentially near ex…

Biological interactions in the boreal ecosystem under climate change : are the vole and predator cycles disappearing?

2014

Effects of the Shiitake Mushroom on Ontogenesis and Reproduction of the Social Vole Microtus socialis

2001

A latest Biharian small vertebrate fauna from the lacustrine succession of San Lorenzo (Sant’Arcangelo Basin, Basilicata, Italy)

2005

Abstract The Sant’Arcangelo Basin is located in the southern part of the Apennine chain (Basilicata). It is filled by a siliciclastic sequence 3500 m thick, dated to the Late Pliocene–Middle Pleistocene time interval. In this basin an Early Middle Pleistocene fluvio-lacustrine sequence, known as San Lorenzo Cycle, has been recognised. In the upper part of the sequence, in Rifreddo, a fairly diversified small vertebrate assemblage has been recovered. The occurrence of Mimomys savini allows to the fauna to be considered as Biharian. The presence of some faunal elements such as Microtus ( Terricola ) arvalidens, Microtus ( Iberomys ) ex gr . huescarensis-brecciensis, and Macroneomys cf. brachy…

Late Pliocene and Pleistocene small mammal chronology in the Italian peninsula

2007

The abundant documentation of small mammals in the Italian peninsula, collected over recent years, furnishes a detailed biochronological sequence mainly from the Late Pliocene onwards. An updated stratigraphic framework is here presented, based on the European small mammal biozonation. The Early Villanyian is characterized by Mimomys hassiacus, M. stehlini, and, later, poorly documented M. polonicus. The Late Villanyian localities are well characterized with M. pliocaenicus, M. pitymyoides and M. tigliensis. The older part of the Early Biharian is documented by assemblages containing Microtus (Allophaiomys) ex gr. pliocaenicus, M. pusillus, M. cf. ostramosensis and M. tornensis, while the l…

Précisions sur la localité-type du campagnol des Pyrénées Microtus (Terricola) pyrenaicus (de Sélys Lonchamps, 1847) (Arvicolinae, Rodentia).

2010

2 pages; National audience; L'objectif de cette note est de préciser aussi exactement que possible la localité-type du campagnol des Pyrénées Microtus (Terricola) pyrenaicus (de Sélys Lonchamps, 1847) : montagnes des Pyrénées, Pic du Midi de Bigorre, à une grande altitude (Hautes-Pyrénées, France).

Analyse comparée des critères de la première molaire inférieure entre différentes populations du campagnol basque Microtus (Terricola) lusitanicus (G…

2009

9 pages; National audience; L'objectif de cette étude est l'analyse comparée des critères de la première molaire inférieure (M1) entre sept groupes géographiques du campagnol basque Microtus (Terricola) lusitanicus (Gerbe, 1879) répartis sur l'ensemble de l'aire de répartition de l'espèce. Le principal résultat est la différenciation du groupe des Pyrénées françaises, caractérisé en particulier par un développement réduit de la partie antérieure de la M1. Dans les groupes géographiques ibériques, des différences morphologiques sont trouvées pour chaque critère, mais ces différences sont moins significatives que celles observées pour le groupe des Pyrénées françaises. Le statut sub-spécifiqu…

Experimental Infection of Voles with Francisella tularensis Indicates Their Amplification Role in Tularemia Outbreaks

2014

Tularemia outbreaks in humans have been linked to fluctuations in rodent population density, but the mode of bacterial maintenance in nature is unclear. Here we report on an experiment to investigate the pathogenesis of Francisella tularensis infection in wild rodents, and thereby assess their potential to spread the bacterium. We infected 20 field voles (Microtus agrestis) and 12 bank voles (Myodes glareolus) with a strain of F. tularensis ssp. holarctica isolated from a human patient. Upon euthanasia or death, voles were necropsied and specimens collected for histological assessment and identification of bacteria by immunohistology and PCR. Bacterial excretion and a rapid lethal clinical …

Ecological Analysis of the Helminth Community of Microtus lusitanicus (Gerbe, 1879) (Rodentia) in Asturias (NW Spain)

2021

Simple Summary The Lusitanian pine vole is an endemic rodent of the Iberian Peninsula, which has a burrowing behaviour and prefers to live underground. It feeds on bark and roots causing severe damage to trees. In Asturias (NW Spain), this species is considered a pest causing economic losses in apple orchards, damaging the tree, and sometimes even causing its death. With the aim to shed light on the helminth community of this rodent pest species and to elucidate which intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect its helminth species, a faunistic-ecological study was carried out. For this purpose, our own collection of 710 voles from several orchards of various locations in Asturias was used. The …

New insights into the taxonomy and phylogeny of social voles inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences

2012

We sequenced the entire cytochrome b gene in Microtus paradoxus from Turkmenistan and Microtus socialis from Crimea and Kalmykia. Phylogenetic relationships among social voles were reconstructed by the inclusion into analyses of a further 23 published haplotypes belonging to six species. The two probabilistic methods which were used in phylogenetic analyses, the Bayesian inference and Maximum Likelihood, yielded very similar results. Both trees showed two highly divergent lineages which were further subdivided into seven species. The socialis lineage encompassed four species (M. socialis, M. irani, M. anatolicus, and M. paradoxus), and the remaining three species clustered into the guenther…