Microtus (Pitymys) quasiater Coues 1874

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 : 1014

Microtus (Pitymys) quasiater Coues 1874

Microtus (Pitymys) quasiater Coues 1874 , Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 26: 191.

Type Locality: México, Veracruz, Jalapa.

Vernacular Names: Jalapan Vole.

Distribution: Eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental, 500-2150 m, SE San Luis Potosi to N Oaxaca, México (Ramírez-Pulido et al., 1991:Fig. 1).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Pitymys . Named as a variety of M. pinetorum but specific status affirmed thereafter ( Bailey, 1900; Hall and Cockrum, 1953; Repenning, 1983). Typically viewed as most closely related to pinetorum in subgenus or genus Pitymys ( Anderson, 1960; Hall and Cockrum, 1953; van der Meulen, 1978), a convention challenged by Repenning (1983) and Moore and Janecek (1990), who supported sister-group kinship between ochrogaster and quasiater . Closest kinship with M. pinetorum , however, reaffirmed in phylogenetic analysis of cytochrome b sequences that included M. ochrogaster and 16 other species of North American Microtus ( Conroy et al., 2001) . Nongeographic variation, distribution, and natural history summarized by Ramírez-Pulido et al. (1991); nonbanded karyotype reported by Cervantes et al. (1994) and compared with other Mexican species.