   #copyright

Vole

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Mammals

                                  iVole
   The meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus, is found in many parts of
   North America
   The meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus, is found in many parts of
   North America
                        Scientific classification

   Kingdom:   Animalia
   Phylum:    Chordata
   Class:     Mammalia
   Order:     Rodentia
   Family:    Cricetidae
   Subfamily: Arvicolinae

                                   Genera

   Microtus
   Myodes
   Phenacomys
   Lagurus
   Arvicola
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   A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a
   shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, and smaller ears and eyes.

Description

   Most vole species have rootless molars that fold into a series of
   triangles. Voles are one of the few rodents whose molars continue to
   grow during their entire life. There is little to distinguish a vole
   from a lemming.

   Voles exhibit complex genetic structures with much variation, and
   appear to be evolving rapidly when compared to other vertibrates.
   Species have been found with anywhere from 17-64 chromosomes. Female
   voles have been found with chromosomes from both sexes. All of these
   variations result in very little physical aberration: most vole species
   are virtually indistinguishable.

   All rodents have incisors that grow continuously.

   Adult voles, depending on the species, are three to seven inches long.

Habitat

   Voles live in a variety of environments. The North American Meadow Vole
   lives in networks of above-ground "runways" in grassy areas, as well as
   underground burrows. California's Red Tree Vole lives in the treetops.

Range

   Sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in America, approximately
   70 species of voles can be found in Europe, Asia, North Africa and
   North America.

Diet

   Depending on the species, the vole's diet consists of seeds, tubers,
   conifers needles, bark, various green vegetation such as grass and
   clover, and insects.

Predators

   Many carnivores such as wolves, owls, hawks, coyotes, foxes, weasels,
   cats and fish eat voles.

Age

   The average life of a vole is 3–6 months. Voles rarely live longer than
   12 months. The longest lifespan of a vole ever recorded was 18 months.

Popular culture

     * The website Fanfiction.Net is often referred to derogatively as the
       "Pit of Voles".

     * The character of Ratty in Kenneth Grahame's children's novel The
       Wind in the Willows is actually a water vole (Arvicola amphibus),
       not a rat.

     * The Inquirer, an IT web newsletter, nicknames the software company,
       Microsoft, "the vole".

     * In an episode of the first season of the British situation comedy
       Green Wing (2004) Dr. Caroline Todd likens colleague Dr. Martin
       Dear to a vole. Everyone concurs.

     * An episode of the U.S. animated comedy, King Of The Hill, confused
       a character (Bill) with a vole for comic effect.

     * Voles were frequently mentioned in the series Star Trek: Deep Space
       Nine as a common type of vermin aboard the space station DS9,
       usually found in the Cargo Bay or in Engineering.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vole"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
