Orkney vole

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Orkney vole
Orkney vole (Microtus arvalis orcadensis) in the Natural History Museum at Tring
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Cricetidae Subfamily: Arvicolinae Genus: Microtus Species: M. arvalis
Subspecies
M. a. orcadensis M. a. ronaldshaiensis M. a. rousaiensis M. a. sandayensis M. a. westraensis

The Orkney vole , a distinct sub-species of the common vole (Microtus arvalis), is found only in the Orkney Islands, United Kingdom. Larger than the common vole, it resembles the field vole (Microtus agrestris) but has shorter paler fur.

It occurs in five varieties, depending upon which island it is found:

• Mainland (Microtus arvalis orcadensis),
• Sanday (Microtus arvalis sandayensis),
• Westray (Microtus arvalis westraensis),
• Rousay (Microtus arvalis rousaiensis),
• South Ronaldsay (Microtus arvalis ronaldshaiensis).

The Orkney voles have been introduced to the archipelago in Neolithic times. The oldest known radiocarbon-dated fossil of the Orkney vole is 4600 years old: this marks the youngest possible date of introduction. The likely source areas for Orkney voles are France or Spain. There are no common voles on mainland Britain.

[edit] References

• S. Haynes, M. Jaarola & J. B. Searle (2003). Phylogeography of the common vole (Microtus arvalis) with particular emphasis on the colonization of the Orkney archipelago (abstract page). Molecular Ecology 12: 951–956. doi:10.1046/j.1365-294X.2003.01795.x.