Microtus (Terricola) multiplex Fatio 1905

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 1009

Microtus (Terricola) multiplex Fatio 1905

Microtus (Terricola) multiplex Fatio 1905 , Arch. Sci. Phys. Nat. Geneve, ser. 4, 19: 193.

Type Locality: Switzerland, Ticino Canton, near Lugano.

Vernacular Names: Alpine Pine Vole.

Synonyms: Microtus (Terricola) druentius (Miller 1911) ; Microtus (Terricola) fatioi (Mottaz 1909) ; Microtus (Terricola) leponticus Thomas 1906 ; Microtus (Terricola) niethammeri Brunet-Lecomte and Volobouev 1994 ; Microtus (Terricola) orientalis Dal Piaz 1924 ; Microtus (Terricola) vuillemeyi Brunet-Lecomte, Chaline, and Campy 1993 .

Distribution: Western and Central Alps in E France, Switzerland ( Maurizio, 1994; Hausser, 1995), far W Austria, and N Italy, including N Italian Apennines ( Amori et al., 1999; Cantini, 1991; Paolucci et al., 1994). The Adige River Valley (Trentino region) in the Alps of NE Italy is apparently the boundary between ranges of M. multiplex (to the west) and M. liechtensteini (eastward); see Brunet-Lecomte and Volobouev (1994), Haring et al. (2000), and Spitzenberger et al. (2000).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Terricola , subterraneus species group (Chaline et al., 1988; Pavlinov et al., 1995 a) or multiplex species group ( Zagorodnyuk, 1990). Most closely related to M. bavaricus and M. liechtensteini (see latter account for discussion of relationships). Brunet-Lecomte and Volobouev (1994) and Brunet-Lecomte (1995) identified populations from the W French Alps and Rhone Valley, at the western margin of the geographic range, as the subspecies niethammeri based on m1 morphology and chromosomes. The taxon vuillemeyi was described as a fossil subspecies from the Pleistocene of E France (Brunet-Lecomte et al., 1993).