109.

Forrest’s Mountain Vole

Neodon forresti

French: Campagnol de Forrest / German: Forrest-Felswiihimaus / Spanish: Topillo de montana de Forrest

Taxonomy. Neodon forresti Hinton, 1923, “divide between the Mekong and Yangtze Rivers, N.W. Yunnan [China], in latitude 27° 20’ N. Altitude 11,000’ to 12,000" [= 3353-3658 m].”

Neodon forresti is sometimes considered a subspecies of N. irene, but forresti is larger and pelage is longer and darker. There is no documented overlap in size between irene and forrest: with specimens of comparable age. Monotypic.

Distribution. N Myanmar and NW Yunnan (S China).

Descriptive notes. Head—body 100-134 mm, tail 36-43 mm, ear 13-15 mm, hindfoot 17-20 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Dorsal pelage of Forrest’s Mountain Vole is soft and dark brown, including long black hairs with ocheroustips; ventral pelage is gray, mixed with grayish white. Tail is blackish brown above and dirty white on sides and below; it is ¢.40% of head-body length. Upper surfaces of feet are grayish white. Females have eight mammae. Skull is similar to Irene Mountain Vole (N. irene) but larger. Anterior cap of M, has weakly developed lingual fold and nearly nonexistent labial fold.

Habitat. Rocky alpine meadows in high mountain grasslands at elevations of 3300-3650 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. Threats to Forrest’s Mountain Vole are unknown, and there is no information ofit occurring in protected areas.

Bibliography. Allen (1940), Francis (2008), Johnston & Smith (2016a), Lunde (2008), Musser & Carleton (2005).