| Mogollon Voles live chiefly in coniferous forests at higher elevations. The greener, wetter mountaintops they inhabit are isolated from one another by dryer zones that prevent the Voles from leaving one area and occupying another. This isolates the Vole populations from each other, and there is some diversity of characteristics from one population to another. Mogollon Voles eat the green leaves and stems of plants. The 35 mm-wide runways they make to link feeding areas and underground burrow entrances are good indicators of their presence, as these are kept clear of vegetation and debris. Mammals carry parasites to one degree or another; the Mogollon Vole appears to carry fewer worm parasites in its digestive tract than other voles. The environment in the Southwest—even on their relatively moist mountaintops—may be too dry for some species of parasitic worms, because part of a parasite's life cycle occurs outside the Vole; or it may be that some parasites have become extinct here because the population of Voles is so small.
Also known as:
Mexican Vole
Sexual Dimorphism:
None
Length:
Average:
134 mm
Range:
123-144 mm
Weight:
Average:
28 g
Range:
18-42 g
References:
Mearns, E.A, 1890. Description of supposed new species and subspecies of mammals, from Arizona. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 4:277-307.
Links:
Mammal Species of the World
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Microtus mogollonensis - ventral view, buff to cinnamon fur
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M. mogollenensis (left) with M. longicaudus (right, larger), both from the Sandia Mountains, New Mexico
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