Microtus xanthognathus Leach 1815

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 : 1019

Microtus xanthognathus Leach 1815

Microtus xanthognathus Leach 1815 , Zool. Misc., Vol. 1: 60.

Type Locality: Canada, Manitoba, Hudson Bay.

Vernacular Names: Taiga Vole.

Distribution: Western boreal taiga zone, from EC Alaska to W Northwest Territories, southeastwards to C Alberta and W coast of Hudson Bay, Canada.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Relationships obscure—apparently not a sister species to M. chrotorrhinus as once believed (see that account and Lidicker and Yang, 1986) nor closely related to M. richardsoni , subgenus Aulacomys , as arranged by Zagorodnyuk (1990; see Conroy and Cook, 2000 a). Karyotype reported and affinities discussed by Rausch and Rausch (1974). Late Pleistocene distribution reached C and E USA, as far south as S Nebraska, N Arkansas, and Virginia ( Graham and Lundelius, 1994).