Make a description of the bank vole according to the following plan. Species: Clethrionomys (= Myodes) glareolus = Red (forest) vole. Features and habitat of the vole

Fans of Mozilla Firefox, today we will talk about an animal that is directly related to this browser. Its emblem depicts an animal that looks like a fox. But is it? Firefox translates to "fire fox", that's right. But few people know that the Chinese name for the small (red) panda - "hon ho" - has the same meaning. And it is this animal, and not the fox at all, that is part of the emblem of this browser.

The relationship between the small and big panda is very distant. Many millions of years ago, approximately in the early Tertiary period, their common ancestor lived on Earth, who lived on the territory of modern Eurasia.

There are 2 subspecies of this animal: western red panda ( Ailurus fulgens fulgens), found in Nepal and Bhutan, and Stayana's red panda ( Ailurus fulgens styani), living in the region of southern China and northern Myanmar. The main difference between the two lies in size and coloration - Stiana's red panda is larger and darker than its western cousin.

In nature, red pandas are now found only in a few Chinese provinces (Sichuan and Yunnan), Nepal, Bhutan, northern Burma, and also in northeastern India. Their habitat is coniferous forests (mostly fir), which alternate with deciduous tree species: oak, maple, chestnut and others. They are necessary for the growth of bamboo, the main food of the red panda. Such forests can be found at an altitude of 2000-4000 meters above sea level. Most of the year they are shrouded in clouds, which creates favorable conditions for the development of mosses and lichens. And why we mentioned them, you will find out a little later.

Red pandas grow to the size of a large cat, but due to their thick and long fur they seem larger than they really are. The length of the body along with the fluffy tail is about 80-120 centimeters, and the average weight is 4-6 kilograms. The short legs are equipped with strongly curved claws, which are only partially extended forward, and the feet are covered with short hair, which helps when walking on ice or snow. On the front paws there is an "extra toe", thanks to which the panda can hold bamboo branches while eating. Outwardly, males are not much different from females.

Dark belly and legs

These animals have a very beautiful coloration - dark or light red, but not everywhere, but mostly on the back, sides and tail. The tummy, along with the paws, is colored dark brown or even black. On the red tail there are light rings. The head of the animal is decorated with white areas on the muzzle, on the cheeks, along the edge of the ears and around the eyes.

red striped tail

Nature has prepared such a color for this animal not by chance. The red color performs a protective function and allows the small panda to remain inconspicuous during rest or sleep among the red lichens that are strewn with trunks and branches of coniferous trees, in particular fir.

In the habitats of these animals, the average air temperature fluctuates around 10-25 degrees and precipitation is constantly falling - rain or snow. And this means that the wool should retain heat well. In especially cold periods, in order to keep warm, the panda curls up on the branches or in a hollow in a tight ball and covers its head with its tail, like a blanket.

They spend most of their time in the trees, where they feel like fish in water. They come down to earth for food. They are most active in the evening, and during the day they settle comfortably in hollows and sleep. The long tail helps them keep their balance while in the trees. When descending to the ground, they hold it straight without touching the ground.

Each panda, whether male or female, has its own territory, and considerable. In males, this is about 5 km 2, and in females it is 2 times less. They mark it with special marks: a secret from the anal glands, urine or heaps of droppings, thanks to which the animals immediately know which neighbors live next to them.

Adults live alone, uniting in groups only during the breeding season, which occurs in January. Sometimes you can meet a small group of pandas even in the off season - this is an adult female with her grown offspring.

The cub is born only 90-145 days after mating, but the "real" pregnancy lasts only about 50 days. This is due to the fact that the fetus begins to develop only after a sufficiently long period of time after conception.

Before giving birth, the female constructs a nest for herself in a hollow or in a rock crevice. Usually, red pandas give birth to 1-2 cubs, sometimes there may be more, but in the end only one will survive. They develop very slowly. Until the age of 5 months, they feed on mother's milk. Initially, the fur of the cubs is colored gray, and only after 3 months they begin to acquire a red color. Next to the mother, the cubs can stay for a whole year until a new generation appears. By this period, most often young animals themselves reach puberty, separate from the female and begin an independent life.

Despite the fact that they are predators, most of their diet is plant foods (almost 95%). These are primarily young and fresh bamboo shoots, mushrooms, berries and fruits. But sometimes they can snack on small rodents and bird eggs.

As a result, their dental system is like that of herbivores - the structure of the molars allows them to grind plant food. As we can see, this panda's food is very low-calorie, and in order to get the required amount of energy, the animal has to eat about 2 kilograms of food per day. In zoos, they are fed with fruits, leaves, bamboo buds, grass, rice boiled in milk and sweet milk.

They have few enemies. This is a snow leopard and a man. The second is much more dangerous than the first. From a leopard, they can quickly climb a tree, but you can’t hide anywhere from a person. Now this animal is listed in the International Red Book under the status of endangered. The main reasons for the decline in the number of red pandas are deforestation and hunting for beautiful fur, which is used to make hats.

Fortunately, red pandas breed well in captivity, as zoos have all the favorable conditions for development. In nature, their life expectancy is approximately 8-10 years, while in zoos - about 15 years.

Order - Rodents / Family - Hamsters / Subfamily - Voles

History of study

Red (forest) vole, or European red-backed vole, or European forest vole (lat. Myodes glareolus) is a species of rodent of the forest vole genus.

Spreading

The bank vole is common in the lowland, foothill and mountain forests of Europe, the north of Asia Minor and Siberia. In Europe, it is found from Southern Ireland, the British Isles, the central and eastern Pyrenees to the Black Sea regions of Turkey; distributed almost everywhere except Spain, the southern part of the Apennine and Balkan Peninsulas and northern Scandinavia (Lapland). It lives in isolation in the southwestern Transcaucasia (Adzhar-Imeretinsky ridge). The northern border of the range as a whole coincides with the border of the distribution of forests; southern - with the northern border of the forest-steppe. It penetrates into the tundra and steppe through floodplain forests of river valleys.

Appearance

Small mouse-like rodent: body length 8-11.5 cm, tail length 3-6 cm. Weight 17-35 g. The color of the back fur is rusty-brown. Belly greyish-whitish. The tail is usually sharply bicolored - dark above, whitish below, covered with short sparse hair. Winter fur is lighter and redder than summer. The coloration generally brightens and turns yellow towards the south and reddish towards the east. The body size increases towards the northeast, decreasing in the mountains. There is no distinct sexual dimorphism either in body size or in the structure of the skull. Up to 35 subspecies have been described, of which 5-6 live in Russia.

reproduction

The breeding season (in the middle lane) begins in March - April, sometimes still under snow, and ends in August - September. The female brings 3-4 broods per year, 5-6 cubs in each (up to a maximum of 10-13). Pregnancy lasts from 17 to 24 days (during lactation). Cubs are born blind and naked, weighing 1-10 g; see the light for 10-12 days. On the 14th-15th day they leave the hole, but they begin to eat green food even earlier. In most females, the lactation period is combined with the next pregnancy. A few days before giving birth, the female leaves the brood in another hole, and after 5 days the brood breaks up into groups, and by the month of life it passes to a completely independent life. Females are able to become pregnant as early as 2-3 weeks; males reach sexual maturity at 6-8 weeks of age. In European forests, underyearlings of the first litter have time to give up to 3 broods during the summer, the second - 1-2, the third (in favorable years) - 1. In the east, only underyearlings of the first litter (1-2 broods) breed.

In nature, voles live 0.5-1.5 years. The maximum life expectancy is 750 days (the Les na Vorskla reserve) and 1120 days (in the laboratory). They are hunted by weasels, ermines, minks, foxes, birds of prey.

Nutrition

It feeds on greens, tree seeds, mushrooms, insect larvae. In winter, it gnaws at the bark, sometimes climbing above the snow surface. It prefers the bark of aspens, sometimes gnawing large fallen trees during the winter. In some places it makes stocks of lichens for the winter, crushing them into lumps and folding them behind the lagging bark.

Lifestyle

Inhabitant of the forest zone. Penetrates through forested islands in the steppe. Inhabits all types of forests. In winter, it often lives in haystacks and human buildings. It feeds on seeds, bark, tree buds, fungi, lichens and herbaceous plants. Active at night. Arranges nests in hollows and rotten stumps, rarely digs holes with 1-2 chambers.

population

It is a common and numerous species practically throughout its range; in the European part of the range it dominates among forest rodents. The density of settlements during the breeding season reaches 200 individuals/ha. The highest and most constant abundance is characteristic of populations of European deciduous forests with a predominance of linden and southern taiga spruce-linden forests. Population dynamics is cyclical. Short-term (1-2 years) population peaks are repeated after 2-5 years; fluctuations in numbers near the boundaries of the range are especially noticeable.

Red vole and man

The bank vole is harmful in forest nurseries, gardens and windbreaks, and in years of high abundance - in forests, mainly in winter. Can damage products in warehouses and residential areas. It carries a number of vector-borne diseases, including hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and tick-borne encephalitis. Carriage of pathogens of at least 10 other zoonoses has also been established. One of the hosts of ixodid tick nymphs.

Early in the morning, as soon as the hostess opened the door, a striped Murka slipped under her feet into the house - and behind the bed, to a box with an old towel in which the kittens sniff warmly. A reddish body - a bank vole - falls into the box with a slight slap. Sleepy kittens poke first into a motionless gray-red lump, then into a more interesting mother's belly. While the future predators are busy with milk, the vole seeps into the holey corner of the box, into the crack between the floorboards, then out into the street, into the raspberry-nettle thickets along the fence and up the slope, to the birches and fir trees of the Arkhangelsk taiga. Lucky!

For Murka, this vole is far from the first in the morning. Here in the north, true mice are rare. The European taiga is the realm of the bank vole. Even in a village hut you will see these animals rather than house mice. However, the little "queen" is full of various enemies. How does she manage to survive among feathered and furry hunters and crackling taiga frosts?

IN THE SUMMER FOREST

The red-backed vole is undoubtedly a forest species. Its favorite habitats are oak-linden forests. In them and in the north of the forest-steppe, this species feels great: voles are numerous here, and years of depression (when there are very few animals) are rare.

To the north, in the taiga, the bank vole has a hard time in winter. Oaks with their large nutritious acorns are very rare, almost all lindens are in the villages. Spruce seeds are nutritious, but small, and the harvest of cones in the middle taiga happens every 4-5 years. In summer, food suitable for the animal can be found almost everywhere - after all, there are more than 100 species of plants on the menu of the bank vole: goutweed, yarrow, plantain, lily of the valley, St. John's wort, elecampane, sorrel, stonecrop ...

In summer, females make nests in old stumps, heaps of deadwood, under roots and ectropions, dragging bunches of dry grass, lichen, and, on occasion, wool and feathers inside. In a good, warm summer, one vole can bring two or even three broods of 5-6 cubs each.

SEARCH UNDER THE SNOW

However, not everyone will survive the first winter: cold, starvation and predators do their job. In the cold, a small body quickly loses heat, and bank voles rarely get out on the snow. However, they make short runs from butt to butt even in 20-degree frosts. Under the snow there is something to profit from. There are many winter-green plants in the taiga, such as lingonberries and wintergreens. Their leaves survive until spring and begin photosynthesis as soon as the snow begins to melt, and die off later, when new ones appear. Blueberries shed their leaves, but the green stems remain. At all times of the year, greenery prevails in the diet of bank voles, but tender young leaves are not found in winter, and the animals gnaw on leathery, darkened lingonberry leaves. If you're lucky, you can profit from a spruce cone dropped from a shaggy spruce top by crossbills or a woodpecker. All the “acidic” (that is, green ones that fell to the ground) cones had long been eaten by the middle of winter, only rods in rags of red scales remained from them. Baskets of cornflowers and nettle catkins, covered with snow, are also ruined. The stock of seeds in the mink is melting... Before spring, more and more often you have to run upstairs, where the opened cones of spruce and pine scatter seeds. And then a flock of taiga titmouse-powders, peeling hard cones of alder, will drop something. But predators are also hungry before spring, and the odorous track of a vole in the snow will not go unnoticed!

TAIGA NEIGHBORS

The bank vole has a lot of rodent neighbors in the taiga. The other two species of forest voles are rare here. Red is found in the real taiga, along coniferous old forests. Gray voles live in fields and meadows: the common voles live where it is drier, and the large root voles live in floodplain meadows with lush grass. In some places, along the curtains of weeds in the fields, there is a field mouse, and in large villages - a brownie. Luckily for the bank vole, it's too north for mice. Further south, in broad-leaved forests, field mice are the main competitors of bank voles.

THE CASE OF TAXONOMY

In 1780, the German naturalist, student of C. Linnaeus I. Schreber, in the fourth volume of the encyclopedia "Mammals in Drawings from Life with Descriptions" gave a biological description of a small rodent caught on the Danish island of Lolland. According to the Linnaean system, it received a double name - Mus glareolus(red mouse). And if the specific epithet, glareolus, has remained the same since then, taxonomists still argue about the generic name.

Pretty soon it became clear that in the genus of mice, voles and lemmings have no place, despite their resemblance. There are many internal differences. The most significant was found in the structure of the skull and teeth. In mice and rats, molars have roots and are covered with enamel, that is, they are limited in growth, only incisors constantly grow. The chewing surface of the teeth of voles is not covered with enamel, it is located on the sides of the tooth and forms loops on the surface. By the way, according to their pattern, you can distinguish the bank vole from its relatives - red and red-gray. The surface of the teeth in voles is worn down, but the teeth are constantly growing. Mice prefer to eat various seeds and fruitlets, voles often feed on the green parts of plants.

What is the name of the genus to which the bank vole belongs? This is a real detective story, and the case has not yet been closed. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the bank vole was placed in the genus Evotomys, described by the American zoologist E. Couse in 1874. Since 1928, thanks to another American, T. Palmer, the name Clethirionomys. Rechecking earlier European publications, he found that the genus of forest voles had already been described in 1850 by the German scientist W. Tilesius. By right of the "older" (that is, earlier) synonym, the name was fixed Clethirionomys. But Palmer missed that even earlier, in 1811, the famous traveler and naturalist P. S. Pallas described the genus Myodes. This was noticed only in the 1960s, and the controversy resumed. As a result, at the beginning of the 21st century, some zoologists called the genus of forest voles Myodes, others continued to use the name Clethirionomys, challenging the decision on a new renaming. Still others, avoiding the battles of seasoned taxonomists, wrote both names, if only it was clear which species was meant.

Bank vole in the food chain

Voles eat a wide variety of plants: shrubs and herbs, bark, shoots, leaves and fruits of trees and shrubs, mosses, lichens, fungi, insects, worms, and even small vertebrates (for example, frogs).

NUTRITION OF THE POLE VOLE

SPRUCE

Spruce is the main tree of the European taiga, which largely determines the life of all its inhabitants. Spruce cones open in the second half of winter, scattering light brown seeds over the surface of the snow. Then numerous paths of voles appear on the snow, collecting nutritious seeds.

BLUEBERRY

In late July - early August, blueberries ripen. A good harvest happens every few years. But even in a bad year for blueberry jam, the bank vole will find the gray berries hidden under the pale green leaves of the shrub. At harvest time, blueberries become a staple on the bank vole menu.

SLEEP

The soft stems and leaves of this umbrella plant are eaten by everything (young leaves can be used to make a salad). This shade-tolerant plant reproduces vegetatively under the closed canopy of spruce forests, but on the sunny edges it throws out fragrant white umbrellas of flowers and produces seeds. The bank vole eats both the leaves and the flowers of the goutweed.

lichen cladonia

Beautiful whitish "caps" in white-moss forests are formed not at all by mosses, but by lichens of the Shota genus. Alpine, forest and deer cladonias are widely distributed in the taiga zone, and they are eaten not only by the bank vole, but also by other inhabitants of the taiga. During rain, the lichens get wet, acquire a greenish tint and emit a distinct mushroom smell.

ENEMIES OF THE POLE VOLE

FOREST MARTEN

It climbs trees beautifully, often gets a squirrel right in the gaine (the so-called squirrel's nest). One marten squirrel is enough to feed for two days. However, squirrels are not easy prey, and forest voles often form the basis of the marten's diet. The marten willingly eats insects, berries and nuts.

Weasel and Ermine

This pair of small predators from the weasel family are specialized myophages (literally - “ mouse-eating"). Both can chase voles in their moves, especially . Nimble, flexible predators do not miss their prey either among the stones or among the deadwood, they make passages in the snow mass.

KESTREL

During the hunt, this red falcon hangs over one; now over another place, finely fluttering its long wings and spreading the striped fan of its tail. It prefers to hunt in open places, therefore it catches gray voles more often, but it also catches red voles regularly. In winter, the kestrel is not able to get rodents from under the snow, so in the fall it goes for wintering to warmer climes.

Tawny Owl

In size, the Great Gray Owl is second only to the Eagle Owl and the Snowy Owl. This large, strong bird hears the movement of a vole under a thickness of snow about half a meter deep, "dives" into the snow forward with its paws and closes sharp, curved claws on its prey. Thanks to these abilities, the Great Gray Owl successfully hibernates in the taiga.

A small rodent can reach 9-10 cm long, with more than half occupied by the tail.

The trunk does not exceed 60 mm. The weight of this pest ranges from 20 to 45 g.

The whole body is covered short fur painted in different colors.

On the back and head it is brownish-red, on the sides it gradually turns into dark gray and steel. The color of the abdomen is light, silvery and whitish hairs are mixed here.

The ears and paws are smoky in color, as are the sparse hairs on the underside of the tail. The top side is much darker. By winter, the fur on the body brightens, acquiring a more intense rusty color.

The head is round, the nose is elongated and mobile, the ears are small and rounded. The body is dense, oval in shape.

The genus is very small, it includes only 12-14 varieties. The most common on the territory of the post-Soviet republics are 2 of them - red and bank voles.

We can also meet the red-gray, and in other places the California, Shikotan, Tien Shan and Gapper vole live.

Video

A small video with a bank vole, made in the Moscow Botanical Garden:

Large "squads" of rodents often cause damage to field-protective plantings, gardens, groves and forests.

It is possible and simply necessary to fight with forest voles!

The amazing fertility and resistance of these rodents to adverse conditions can lead to real disaster in any private sector.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

The bank vole is a small rodent. Length 80-115 mm, tail over 50% of body length (4-6 cm), hind foot length 16-18 mm. The eyes and ears are small. Weight 15-40 g.

The coloration of the top is rusty-brown, of various shades, the belly is dark gray, the tail is sharply two-tone (dark above and whitish below), covered with short sparse hair, between which a scaly surface of the skin is visible. Sides are dark gray, lightening on the ventral side of the body. Paws and ears are grey.

The cheren is rounded, with weakly pronounced ridges; the interorbital space is not grooved along its entire length. The roots of molars are formed relatively early, the enamel layer of the crown is of moderate thickness. The base of the alveolus of the upper incisor is at least half the length of its crown from the anterior surface of the alveolar section M1. The posterior upper molar is most often with four teeth on the inside.

Spreading. The forest zone from Scotland to Turkey in the west and the lower reaches of the river. Yenisei and Sayan in the east. In the USSR, north to the central regions of the Kola Peninsula, the Solovetsky Islands, Arkhangelsk, and the lower reaches of the river. Pechory; in the Trans-Urals approximately from 65 ° N. sh. the border follows to the south-east along the right bank of the river. Ob and lower reaches of its right tributaries. The northern border in the region of the Ob-Yenisei watershed has not been clarified. In the east of the range, it was found along the middle course of the river. Yenisei, in the western part of the Central Siberian Upland, on the Salair Ridge, Altai and Sayan Mountains. The southern border runs along the Carpathians, insular and floodplain forests of Ukraine, Voronezh, Saratov and Kuibyshev regions, through the Uralsk region, and in Western Siberia it coincides with the northern border of the forest-steppe; the most southern of the currently known locations is the Samara forest on the river. Dnieper (Dnepropetrovsk region), the extreme western regions of the Rostov region on the border with Donetsk. There is an isolated locality in the southwestern Transcaucasia (Adzhar-Imeretinsky ridge).

Inhabitant of the forest zone. Penetrates through forested islands in the steppe. Inhabits all types of forests. In winter, it often lives in stacks, haystacks and human buildings. It reaches the highest abundance in broad-leaved and coniferous-broad-leaved forests of the European type. Near the boundaries of the range, when living together with both of the following species, it lives in burnt areas, clearings, along forest edges and in deciduous forests, especially with rich grass cover. In the coniferous-broad-leaved forest subzone, it reaches the highest density in spruce forests, especially in blueberry spruce forests, green mosses and stream spruce forests with abundant shrub undergrowth. Found in mountain forests up to 1600 m a.s.l. m. (Sayan Mountains, Soviet Carpathians). In autumn and winter it occurs in haystacks, sheds and buildings.

Most often, the bank vole settles in various natural, relatively open shelters in the roots of stumps and tussocks, under ectropions, in the voids of fallen trunks, etc. Burrows are usually short; usually voles more often “mine” the thickness of moss or forest litter. Nests are placed in shelters on the surface or in the near-surface layer, rarely builds nests on the soil surface or above ground. It climbs better than other species of the genus, and traces of stay are noted up to a height of 12 m; there are known cases of settlement in artificial bird houses-hollows and the withdrawal of young in them.

The bank vole feeds on seeds of shrubs, bark, tree buds, mushrooms, lichens and herbaceous plants, and also berries and mushrooms in autumn. If there is not enough food (usually in winter), it gnaws at the bark of young trees and shrubs. Sometimes insects and other invertebrates are eaten. For the winter can make small stocks of food.

The bank vole is active at night and at dusk. Leads a solitary life. Arranges spherical nests (from dry leaves, moss, feathers and other soft material) in hollows and rotten stumps, rarely digs shallow burrows with 1-2 chambers. It climbs well and runs fast.

The breeding season is from March to October. Pregnancy lasts 18-21 days. During the year there are three or four litters, in a brood from two to eight naked and blind cubs; in years favorable for wintering, reproduction can begin even before the snow cover melts. After 2 months they become sexually mature.

The number varies markedly over the years, sometimes very high. Life expectancy up to 18 months.

The bank vole damages forest plantings, fruit trees, stocks of vegetables in warehouses, and is a carrier of hemorrhagic fever. It interferes with the renewal of conifers and other species by eating their seeds.

Inside the forests it can be considered useful, as it is food for many commercial predators: foxes, martens, ermines, birds of prey and others.

Fossil remains are known from the Early Pleistocene in Western Europe (England) and from the Middle Pleistocene in the USSR. Finds in the Crimea and on the lower Don lie much to the south of the boundaries of the modern range.

Geographic variation and subspecies. There is a development of brighter red tones in coloration in the direction from west to east and its general lightening towards the south. The size of voles increases towards the east (on the plains) and with height (in Western Europe). In the east of the range, the mountain forms are smaller than the flat ones and are darker in color. The relative length of the dentition decreases from north to south.
Up to 15 subspecies have been described, of which 5-6 are in the USSR.

Literature: 1. Mammals of the USSR. Reference-determinant of the geographer and traveller. V.E. Flint, Yu.D. Chugunov, V.M. Smirin. Moscow, 1965
2. A brief guide to vertebrates. I.M. Oliger. M., 1955
3. Key to mammals of the Vologda region Vologda: Publishing and production center "Legia", 1999. 140 p. Compiled by A. F. Konovalov
4. Mammals of the fauna of the USSR. Part 1. Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Moscow-Leningrad, 1963