Orkney vole
Orkney vole | |
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Orkney vole (Microtus arvalis orcadensis) in the Natural History Museum at Tring | |
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Microtus orcadensis |
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The Orkney vole is a population of the common vole (Microtus arvalis) found in the Orkney Islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, United Kingdom. Orkney voles are larger than voles from other populations of the common vole.[citation needed] The common vole does not occur elsewhere in the British Isles.
The Orkney vole occurs on five islands:
In the past the populations on each of these islands have been named as subspecies, and the Orkney vole as a whole is considered by some taxonomists[who?] to be a subspecies of the common vole. However, others do not recognise any subspecies of the common vole.[1]
Orkney voles do not occur in mainland Britain, nor elsewhere in the British Isles, and they are thought to have been introduced to the Orkney archipelago by humans in Neolithic times. The oldest known radiocarbon-dated fossil of Common Vole in Orkney is 4,600 years old: this marks the latest possible date of introduction. The likely source areas for Orkney voles are what is now France or Spain.[2]
References
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- Articles with unsourced statements from February 2011
- All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases
- Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from February 2011
- Rodents of Europe
- Biota of Orkney
- Endemic fauna of Scotland
- Endemic biota of the Scottish islands
- Microtus stubs
- Orkney stubs