Microtus (Alexandromys) oeconomus (Pallas 1776)

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 : 1010

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.7316535
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/F570AA9C-B08C-9614-E3F5-3515F1ED31B1
treatment provided by	Guido
scientific name	Microtus (Alexandromys) oeconomus (Pallas 1776)
status

Treatment

[Mus] oeconomus Pallas 1776 , Reise Prov. Russ. Reichs, Vol. 3: 693.

Type Locality: Russia, Siberia, Ishim Valley.

Vernacular Names: Root Vole.

Distribution: Holarctic in tundra, northern taiga, and grassy meadows. In Palearctic, from Fennoscandia across N European Russia and Siberia to Kamchatka Peninsula ( Nikanorov, 2000) and borderlands of Bering Sea; south through through Baltic region ( Miljutin, 1997, 1998; Timm et al., 1998) to NE Germany ( Dolch, 1994), Poland ( Salata-Pilacinska, 1990), Belarus, Ukraine, N Kazakhstan, transbaikal region ( Reiter et al., 1995, documented occurrence on Svjatoj Nos peninsula and isthmus in Lake Baikal), N Mongolia, NE China (N Nei Mongol), and discontinuously in the Ussuri region bordering the Japanese Sea, including, Sakhalin and Kurile Isls; relict populations in Netherlands (Ligtvoet, 1992; Ligtvoet and Wijngaarden, 1994), S Norway and C Sweden, Finnish Baltic Coast, E Austria, SW Slovakia (Mošanský, 1994; Stanko and Mošanský, 2000), and W Hungary; absent from the British Isls but present on St. Lawrence Isl in Bering Sea. In Nearctic, from Alaska through Yukon Territory, eastwards to W Northwest Territories, and southwards to extreme NW British Columbia and Alexander Archipelago, Alaska (see records by MacDonald and Cook, 1996:579).

Conservation: IUCN – Critically Endangered as M. o. arenicola, Vulnerable as M. o. mehelyi, Data Deficient as M. o. amakensis , M. o. elymocetes , M. o. innuitus , M. o. popofensis , M. o. punukensis , and M. o. sitkensis , otherwise Least Concern.

Discussion:

Subgenus Alexandromys . Earlier included in the subgenus Pallasiinus ( Gromov and Erbajeva, 1995; Pavlinov and Rossolimo, 1998; Pavlinov et al., 1995 a; Zagorodnyuk, 1990), also containing M. montebelli and M. limnophilus , or arranged in subgenus Microtus ( Gromov and Polyakov, 1977; Pavlinov and Rossolimo, 1987). Based on morphometric, chromosomal and hybridization analyses, Meyer et al. (1996) placed M. oeconomus in a clade containing M. middendorffii , M. mongolicus , M. fortis , M. sachalinensis , M. maximowiczii , M. jujanensis , and M. evoronensis ; according to phylogenetic analysis of cytochrome b sequences, member of a clade that includes the Taiwanese M. kikuchii as sister-species, along with M. montebelli , M. middendorffii , and M. fortis ( Conroy and Cook, 2000 a) . Close alliance of M. oeconomus and M. montebelli is also supported by pairing patterns of X-Y chromosome ( Borodin et al., 1997).

Homogeneity of Old and New World populations averred by Zimmerman (1942) and sustained by subsequent studies ( Nadler et al., 1976, 1978; Ognev, 1964; Rausch, 1953; Conroy and Cook, 2000 a). Interpretations of mitochondrial DNA led Conroy and Cook (2000 a) to propose that M. oeconomus represented one of only two colonizations of North America by Old World stocks, the earlier one radiating into the North American endemics. Allozymic and chromosomal differentiation among subspecies surrounding the Bering Strait minimal, also suggesting a relatively late entry of the species into North America and rapid expansion of populations once arrived ( Lance and Cook, 1998).

Geographic variation and subspecies of Nearctic populations reviewed by Paradiso and Manville (1961), populations in Russia and adjacent regions by Gromov and Erbajeva (1995), and European populations by Tast (1982 b) and Mitchell-Jones et al. (1999). Chromosomal data evaluated by Zima and Kral (1984 a); Modi (1987) and Lance and Cook (1998) documented recent chromosomal results (uniformly 2n = 30, FN = 54). Synaptic association of sex chromosomes and its evolutionary significance discussed by Ashley and Fredga (1994). Gastrointestinal morphology of Chinese sample and its adaptive significance reported by Wang et al. (1995). Interdependence and correlation among non-metric characters with sex, age, and body size evaluated by Markowski (1995). Molar patterns intensively investigated, addressing frequency and interpretation of morphotypes in large isolated sample from W Poland ( Rachowiak, 1993), assessment of variation in extant samples against which patterns in extinct species can be judged ( Angermann, 1984), correlation of variation with latitude and altitude ( Pozdnyakov and Litvinov, 1994), and departures from bilateral symmetry ( Kovaleva et al., 2002).

Kaneko and Hasegawa (1995) identified M. oeconomus from a late Pleistocene cave on Miyako Isl, Ryukyu Isls, an occurrence far outside the modern and Pleistocene distribution as known by other fossils. They also allocated Pleistocene epiratticeps as another synonym of M. oeconomus . The taxon corneri , based on Pleistocene (Late Glacial) cave deposits in the British Isles, testifies the former presence of M. oeconomus ( Berry, 1996; Yalden, 1999).

Ognev (1964) identified ratticeps Keyserling and Blasius, 1841 , as the proper name applicable to this species, and suggested that oeconomus Pallas, 1776 , was based upon an example of M. gregalis . Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951:705), however, noted that kamtschaticus Pallas, 1779, would be the oldest name, not ratticeps , if Ognev is correct (also see Hall, 1981:805). While most systematists continue to utilize oeconomus Pallas, 1776 , for reasons of familiarity, ratticeps has been used in the past (G. M. Allen, 1940) and even recently ( Berry, 1996). This nomenclatural uncertainty requires formal resolution

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Rodentia
Family	Cricetidae
Genus	Microtus