Beach vole
| Beach vole | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Suborder: | Myomorpha |
| Superfamily: | Muroidea |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Arvicolinae |
| Tribe: | Microtini |
| Genus: | Microtus |
| Species: | M. breweri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Microtus breweri Baird, 1858
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The beach vole or Muskeget vole (Microtus breweri) is a rodent in the family Cricetidae endemic to Muskeget Island, Massachusetts. It is a larger relative of the eastern meadow vole.
Taxonomy
M. breweri is currently recognized by the IUCN and ITIS[2] as a distinct species, but genetic studies indicate that it may be a subspecies of M. pennsylvanicus[3][4] The skulls of M. breweri indicate at least the beginning of speciation, having a distinctly shaped interparietal bone, a narrow bridge between the orbits, and unusually broad zygomatic arches.
Beach voles are much larger than members of the parent species M. pennsylvanicus on average, and tend closer towards K selection. These features indicate some level of island gigantism.
Distribution
M. breweri can only be found on Muskeget Island, off the west coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. However, throughout the history of Muskeget Island, it was also endemic to nearby South Point and Adams Islands, which are considered as a part of Muskeget Island in a rather broad point of view, but are no longer above sea level. The vole was extirpated from Muskeget proper by 1891 as a result of predation by stray cats, but was reintroduced by Gerrit S. Miller, Outram Bangs, and Chas F. Batchelder in 1893 from a colony captured on South Point Island. Moreover, Muskeget Island has moved about 1,000 feet eastwardly over the last about 200 years, along with its changing process of shape, size and position due to erosion and tidal buildup.[5]
Habitat and diet
These voles dominate an open habitat of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and beach grass (Ammophilia breviligulata). Swaths of bare sand and saltwater marsh can be found on the island, but the voles tend to avoid these areas. They may burrow in loose sand or loose soil under or near any of their shelters.[5] M. breweri feeds on beach grass stalks, leaves, seeds, and insect adults and larvae. Their predators include birds of prey such as the Short-eared Owl and the Northern Harrier. Cats were introduced onto Muskeget in the late 1800s, decimating the vole’s population, but are no longer present. Their home range is usually less than one acre.[5][6]
Reproduction and behavior
The young beach voles are born in the burrow nests, underneath fragments of wreckage, or at the base of goldenrod (Solidago). They do not demonstrate a typical vole breeding cycle, and show many of the attributes of a K-selected organism, such as large size, later age at maturation, sex ratio weighted towards the males, and low reproductive output.[7] The adults can breed from the spring to the fall, and their gestation lasts for about one month. Every year, an individual female beach vole can produce up to several litters of three to five young offspring, but most will live for less than one year.[5] The beach voles have a habit of building their runways above or underground through the beach grass. The runways may contain some cut grass. During winter, tunnels become more common due to the cold weather.[7]
References
- ^ Roach, N. (2020). "Microtus breweri ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020. IUCN: e.T13417A22349291. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T13417A22349291.en.
- ^ "Microtus breweri (Baird, 1857)". ITIS. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ Jackson, Donavan J; Cook, Joseph A (2020-02-21). "A precarious future for distinctive peripheral populations of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus)". Journal of Mammalogy. 101 (1): 36–51. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyz196. ISSN 0022-2372.
- ^ "Explore the Database". www.mammaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
- ^ a b c d David Kenneth Wetherbee; Raymond Parke Coppinger; Richard E. Walsh (1972). Time Lapse Ecology, Muskeget Island, Nantucket, Massachusetts. MSS Educational Pub. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ^ Tamarin, Robert H. (1977). "demography of the Beach Vole (Microtus breweri) and the Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) in Southeastern Massachusetts". Ecology. 58 (6): 1310–1321. doi:10.2307/1935083. JSTOR 1935083.
- ^ a b Tamarin, Robert H. (1977). "Reproduction in the Island Beach Vole, Microtus breweri, and the Mainland Meadow Vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus, in Southeastern Massachusetts". Journal of Mammalogy. 58 (American Society of Mammalogists): 536–548. doi:10.2307/1380002. JSTOR 1380002. PMID 336824.
Further reading
- Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
External links
 | This Microtus article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |