Myodes andersoni Thomas 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 : 1022

Myodes andersoni Thomas 1905

Myodes andersoni Thomas 1905 , Abstr. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1905 (23): 18.

Type Locality: Japan, Honshu, Iwate Prefecture, Tsunagi, near Morioka.

Vernacular Names: Anderson's Red-backed Vole.

Synonyms: Myodes niigatae (Anderson 1909) .

Distribution: Known only from C and N Honshu Isl ( Kaneko, 1994).

Conservation: IUCN – Vulnerable as Phaulomys andersoni .

Discussion: Originally named as a species of Evotomys , later included in the synonymy of C. rufocanus smithii ( Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951) , and eventually revised by Aimi (1980) as a species of Eothenomys . Subsequently arranged as a species of Phaulomys ( Musser and Carleton, 1993) , Eothenomys ( Kaneko, 1994) , or Clethrionomys ( Pavlinov et al., 1995 a) . Evidence for treatment under Myodes is explained in account of M. smithii . Species reviewed by Kaneko (1994, as Eothenomys ).

Kaneko et al. (1992 a) documented vertical distributions, zone of overlap (650-1325 m), and morphological separation of M. andersoni (alpine habitats generally above 1000 m) and M. smithii in C Honshu (also see Kimura et al., 1994, 1999). Honshu specimens of problematic identification can be confidently associated using Y-chromosome morphology, certain external proportions and cranial traits, and mammae formula (Iwasa, 2000; Iwasa and Tsuchiya, 2000). G-band chromosomal homologies between M. andersoni and M. rufocanus documented by Obara (1986). Junior synonymy of niigatae , occasionally treated as specifically distinct, clarified by Aimi (1980) based on morphological traits. His conclusion is strongly corroborated by cross-breeding experiments ( Kitahara and Kimura, 1995), analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal DNA ( Suzuki et al., 1999 b), and C-banding comparisons of the Y chromosome ( Iwasa and Tsuchiya, 2000); however, Kaneko (1994) continued to recognize niigatae as a valid species occurring in C Honshu .