Mongolian Vole

About this species

Size

Head and body 8.1–12.3cm; tail 2.1–3.9cm

Weight

Up to 40g

Diet

Green and underground parts of plants; stores bulbs and roots for winter

Habitat

Riverside habitats in boreal conifer forests, mixed forests, forest-steppe, steppe and mountain grassland up to 3,000m; mainly tussocks

Range

Fragmented across southern Siberia, northern and eastern Mongolia and the Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and Jilin

Litter size

5–9, usually 6–7, twice a year

The Mongolian vole is a small rodent with a head-and-body length of 81–123 millimetres and a tail of 21–39 millimetres, with hind feet of 12–18 millimetres and ears of 7–15 millimetres, weighing up to 40 grams. The winter fur is denser and longer. The upperparts are dark blackish-brown and the underparts ash-grey. There are five, more rarely six, pads on the soles of the feet. The tail is shorter than the head and body, dark above and paler below. (Italian Wikipedia, general species account)

It is a ground-living species active through the day with a short break at midday, and in open habitats animals are active at dusk and at night. It usually lives in family colonies whose territory holds five or six burrows, all linked by paths up to ten metres long; nests have two to eight entrances and one or two stores. It eats green and underground parts of plants and stores bulbs and roots for winter, 1–2 kilograms per family group. It breeds from May to August, twice a year. (Italian Wikipedia, general species account)

Description: Wildlife of Mongolia guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)