Other common name by which this species is known include yellow-cheeked vole, yellow-nosed vole, yellow-snouted vole, chestnut-cheeked vole, and fulvous-cheeked vole.
Taiga voles communicate through scent markings and calls. The scent glands are found in adult males and females and vary in size according to body size. These scent glands increase in size in the early spring and stay enlarged until fall, when they regress in size.
The scent glands located on the flank may be used in scent marking for individual recognition especially in the context of marking territory. During courtship, males and females sniff each other's flank and anal glands to determine reproductive condition. M. xanthognathus may help to stimulate scent excretion by scratching the flank gland. The oily secretion is known to mat down the hair.
Besides scent marking, taiga voles also communicate with alarm calls. They give out these alarm calls as a predator enters within an individual's home range, and will continue the call until the predator is within 5 to 8 meters of the individual. These alarm calls are usually not given unless an individual is in safe territory. It is not known if the voles are assisting kin when making these alarm calls, warning the predators off, or are involved in some sort of reciprocal altruism with neighboring voles.
Although not specifically reported, it is likely that these voles use tactile and visual signals in their communications, also. Tactile communication is important in fighting, mating, and nurturing the young in just about all mammals.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: scent marks
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
The taiga vole is not listed by CITES or IUCN.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There is no reported negative effect of these voles on humans.
These is no apparent direct benefit of this species to humans.
These voles serve as a food source for many animals. Microtus pennsylvanicus also has been reported to use the same runways as taiga voles. Because of their food caching behavior, these voles may play some role in seed dispersal.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Taiga voles eat a variety of different plants. They prefer to eat grasses, like Calamagrostis, rhizomes, and berries in the summer. Then as these summer foods start to die off, they switch over to stored rhizomes, particularly the ones from Equisetum, which make up the majority of their winter diet. Ninety percent of their winter food is from these rhizomes and the other ten percent is from eating food away from the nest. The voles gather rhizomes and store them from mid-August to mid-September.
Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers; seeds, grains, and nuts
Other Foods: fungus
Foraging Behavior: stores or caches food
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore ); mycophage
Taiga voles, Microtus xanthognathus, are found in scattered locations throughout the boreal taiga zone. Populations are found from the west coast of Hudson Bay to the interior of Alaska. There are records of taiga voles in Manitoba, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon Territory, and Alaska.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
Taiga voles inhabit quite a wide range of microhabitats within the taiga community. These include mixed woods bordering a marsh, the banks of rivers, wet grassy swamps, and open black spruce forests with sphagnum moss for ground cover. It seems that the ideal habitat for these voles is moist, highly productive forest in the early successional stages. They also seem to prefer recently burned areas and black spruce forests.
There seem to be two habitat conditions that taiga voles look for when establishing residency in an area. One is rhizomes, which provide winter food. These require moist conditions for Equisetum or Epilobium growth. The other factor important to these voles in habitat selection is good burrowing conditions. These can be found in areas with moss for ground cover. Both of these conditions seem to point to a habitat similar to the ideal habitat mentioned earlier.
Habitat Regions: terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: taiga
Taiga voles usually live 16 to 18 months if they survive and enter their first winter.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 16 to 18 months.
Microtus xanthognathus is one of the largest voles in the genus. These animals weigh between 140 and 160 grams, and have an overall length of 186 to 226 mm. The tail is bicolored, with a blackish top and a dusky gray underside, and is 45 to 53 mm in length. The pelage is sepia to bister in color on the upper parts, with coarse black hairs on the back. On the sides of the nose, by the whiskers, and in the ear patches, M. xanthognathus has a rusty-yellowish coloration. The underside is dusky gray. These voles have 16 teeth, four of which are incisors and 12 are molars. They lacks canines and premolars.
Range mass: 140 to 160 g.
Range length: 186 to 226 mm.
Average basal metabolic rate: 1.44 ± 0.089 cm3.O2/g/hr.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Taiga voles are prey for a number of raptors and carnivores. To avoid predators they give out alarm calls and will continue this call until the predator is within 5 to 8 meters of the individual.
Known Predators:
Taiga voles are polygynous, and males may use resource-defense as a means of attracting mates. Males also are quite territorial during the mating season.
Mating System: polygynous
Taiga voles breed from early in May to September. In Alaska the first pregnancies happen around the time of snow melt. Young are not sexually mature during their first season and cannot breed.
Males reach sexual competance two weeks prior to the first estrus in females. Their seminal vesicles reach maximum length between two weeks and a month after the decline in testis size.
Litter size is between six and thirteen young with an average of 8.8. Usually the first litter is smaller than the second in a year. Females only have two litters in their lifetime.
Although information is lacking for M. xanthognathus, the gestation period for other members of the genus has been recorded at between 19 and 25 days. It is likely that this species is similar.
Newborn voles typically weigh around 2.1 g. They are altricial, and are cared for in the nest by their mother until they are able to forage for themselves. Newborn voles do not open their eyes until they are around 9 days of age. Weaning may occur by as early as 12 days. Although there are no data available for M. xanthognathus, it is likely that they are similar to other members of their genus.
Breeding interval: These voles may breed twice a year.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs between May and September.
Range number of offspring: 6 to 13.
Average number of offspring: 8.8.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
Females appear to give all the parental care. The young are altricial, and must be cared for in a nest until they are able to venture out on their own. Although this happens quite quickly in most species of voles, these boreal animals do not reach reproductive maturity as quickly as most of their congeners, who may breed by the time they are a month old. It is not known if the young of M. xanthognathus stay in the nest longer than do the young of these other species of Microtus.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement; altricial ; pre-fertilization (Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Female)
The taiga vole (Microtus xanthognathus) is a large vole found in northwestern North America, including Alaska and northwestern Canada. The name "taiga vole" comes from its living in the boreal taiga zone.[2] It is also sometimes called the yellow-cheeked vole or chestnut-cheeked vole because of the rusty-yellow color on its face around its vibrisae (whiskers); The taiga voles derive their name from these features: "xantho" is Greek for yellow and "gnathus" is Greek for jaw.[2] It is typically much larger than most other North American voles, especially those from the genus Microtus.[2]
An adult taiga vole, excluding tail length, usually ranges from 186–226 mm (7.3–8.9 in) in length and usually weighs 140–170 g (4.9–6.0 oz).
This species is found in northern forests near water or bogs. It makes runways through the surface growth and burrows. It is usually found in colonies. It feeds on grasses, lichens, horsetails and berries. It stores food in its burrows for the winter. Like the singing vole, this animal may give a warning call to alert other members of the colony of danger.
The female vole has litters of 7 to 10 young. The vole population in a given area can vary greatly from year to year.
They are active year-round, usually during dark periods.
Although not commonly encountered, they can be locally abundant.
The taiga vole is from the order Rodentia and the family Muridae.
The taiga vole's habitat stretches from northwestern Canada to Alaska.[3] Fossils have been found as far south as Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia, suggesting that the taiga voles cover a much smaller range now than in the past.[3] Taiga vole fossils have been found south of where the Laurentide Ice Sheet once was during the late Pleistocene.[4] Fossil evidence suggests that they moved northwest after the Wisconsin glaciation event.[2] The taiga voles are mostly found today in boreal forests and tundra, which provides good evidence as to why fossils have been found so far south.[3] Fossil specimens have been dated back to just before or just after the glacial maximum, when scientist believe that areas of the southern United States would have been covered by the boreal forests and tundra that the taiga vole prefers for habitat.[3]
The taiga voles live a polygynous lifestyle. Males are very territorial and defensive of resources.[2] They typically mate during the North American summers, starting in early May and finishing around September.[2] Each female will typically produce 2 litters per season but the second litter is usually smaller than the first. The taiga vole engages in communal winter nesting.[2] A small group, usually 5-10 individuals, will share a nest during the winter. They will build very extensive burrows that occasionally will even go into the water where they can swim out.[2] Taiga voles living in more dense populations typically have greater body mass than those living in less dense populations.[5] They also exhibit the use of alarm calls, particularly during the mating seasons to warn potential mates of danger. The taiga vole cannot go more than 24 hours without eating or they can starve to death.[6] They do not have complex metabolisms designed for fasting.[6] They can consume all of their liver glycogen in 4 hours or less. They do not use torpor like many other small rodents do, so they must find other ways to slow the basal metabolic rate.[6] They will lower their body temperature by about .5 degrees Celsius to reduce energy costs. The taiga voles, as do many other voles, rely on fat reserves for thermoregulation, using brown fat adipose tissue to increase their thermogenic capacity.[6]
The taiga vole (Microtus xanthognathus) is a large vole found in northwestern North America, including Alaska and northwestern Canada. The name "taiga vole" comes from its living in the boreal taiga zone. It is also sometimes called the yellow-cheeked vole or chestnut-cheeked vole because of the rusty-yellow color on its face around its vibrisae (whiskers); The taiga voles derive their name from these features: "xantho" is Greek for yellow and "gnathus" is Greek for jaw. It is typically much larger than most other North American voles, especially those from the genus Microtus.
An adult taiga vole, excluding tail length, usually ranges from 186–226 mm (7.3–8.9 in) in length and usually weighs 140–170 g (4.9–6.0 oz).
This species is found in northern forests near water or bogs. It makes runways through the surface growth and burrows. It is usually found in colonies. It feeds on grasses, lichens, horsetails and berries. It stores food in its burrows for the winter. Like the singing vole, this animal may give a warning call to alert other members of the colony of danger.
The female vole has litters of 7 to 10 young. The vole population in a given area can vary greatly from year to year.
They are active year-round, usually during dark periods.
Although not commonly encountered, they can be locally abundant.
The taiga vole is from the order Rodentia and the family Muridae.
