172.

Anatolian Vole

Microtus anatolicus

French: Campagnol dAnatolie / German: Anatolien-Wuhlmaus / Spanish: Topillo de Anatolia

Taxonomy. Microtus anatolicus KryStufek & Kefelioglu, 2001, Yapali1 koyu, Cihanbeyli, Konya, Turkey .

Microtus anatolicus is in subgenus Sumeriomys and socialis species group. Monotypic.

Distribution. Small area in the SE of C Anatolia, Turkey, extreme localities only c.200 km apart.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 105-125 mm, tail 21-34 mm; weight 23-5-53 g. The Anatolian Vole is chunky, ears overtop pelage, eyes are relatively large, and tail is ¢.25% of head-body length. Dorsum is pale grayish buff, and venter is whitish. Tail is bicolored or uniformly whitish, and paws are whitish. Skull is heavily built and deep, braincase is wide, and bullae are swollen. Incisors are orthodont. Molars resemble pattern seen in all species of Microtus . M is long, with six inner salient angles, M? frequently has an additional postero-lingual loop, and M? has four inner and 3—4 outer salient angles.

Habitat. Dry open habitats on alkaline soil, sparsely covered by clumps of rush ( Juncus, Juncaceae) and halophytes at elevations of 530-980 m. Anatolian Voles are absent from cultivated soil.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. Female Anatolian Voles have 2-5 embryos. Reproductively active individuals weigh more than 25 g.

Activity patterns. Anatolian Voles are active throughout the day . They dig burrows with large (4-7 cm) entrances.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Anatolian Voles move aboveground in runways that connect entrances of burrows. They live in small colonies that occupy areas less than 20 m in diameter.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red Lust. Little is known about the Anatolian Vole; it has been recorded from only three localities in a small distributional area.

Bibliography. Krystufek & Kefelioglu (2001), Krystufek & Vohralik (2005), Krystufek, Buzan et al. (2009), Yavuz et al. (2009), Zima et al. (2013).