168.

Levant Vole

Microtus guentheri

French: Campagnol de Gunther / German: Levante-Wihlmaus / Spanish: Topillo de Guenther

Other common names: Guenther's Vole, Glnther's Vole

Taxonomy. Arvicola guentheri Danford & Alston, 1880, “marshes below Marash [= city of Kahramanmaras],” Kahramanmaras Province, Turkey .

Microtus guentheri is in subgenus Sumeriomys and guenther: species group. In the past, guentheri contained hartingi and mustersi philistinus was occasionally treated as a full species but is regarded here as a synonym of guentheri . Subspecific taxonomy is not resolved. Monotypic.

Distribution. SE Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and NWJordan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 109-130 mm,tail 23-32 mm; weight 26-47 g. Females are on average 2-3 g lighter than males. The Levant Vole is large and chunky, with short tail ¢.20% of head—body length, long ears, and large eyes. Females have two pairs of pectoral and two pairs of inguinal mammae. There are five plantar pads. Fur is soft, dorsally gray-buff to light fawn and grizzled by blackish tips of long hair. Belly is grayish white, and demarcation along flanks is faint. Tail is indistinctly bicolored. Skull is robust, moderately deep, with swollen bullae and wide interorbital constriction. Incisors are orthodont. M' and M* frequently have postero-lingual loop. M? has 4-5 inner and 3-5 outer salient angles. M is of standard shape for social voles, with 4-5 inner reentrant angles.

Habitat. Meadows with sparse vegetation on drained slopes, particularly those sheltered by scattered trees and bushes, from lowlands up to elevations of at least 1700 m. Levant Voles also occupy cultivated terraces planted with alfalfa and corn and orchards. Heavy alluvial soils with water-binding capacity and low temperature are preferred.

Food and Feeding. Levant Voles preferred green herbs, grains, cereals, and tubers. Food, mainly seeds and grains, is cached, and stores contain 250-1500 g of food.

Breeding. Breeding season of the Levant Vole occurs in November—April when weather conditions are suitable and green vegetation is plentiful. No pregnant females were trapped in Israel in June-October. Minimum reproductive age was 36 days (60 days in captivity) for females and 30 days (90 days in captivity) for males. Formation of pairsis a precondition for the start of breeding. Gestation is 21 days. Mean number of embryos is 8-8/female, and litters under laboratory conditions had 1-10 young (mean 6-1). Due to postpartum estrus, interval between successive litters can be as short as 21 days, and in a laboratory colony, 41% of births occurred 21-25 days after previous parturition. Reproductive potential is estimated at c.60 young/female/breeding season. Altricial young are born naked and blind and have closed ears. Mean weights are 2:6-2-9 g and depends on littersize. Males are born 27% heavier than females. Dorsal hair starts growing four days after birth. Eyes and ears open at c.10 days old. Young start eating solid food at c.10 days old and are weaned at 20 days old. Lactation lasts 15-21 days.

Activity patterns. Levant Voles are active year-round and at any time of the day . Daily activity ceases at temperatures above 25°C, so they are crepuscular and nocturnal in summer. They had three peaks of activity under laboratory conditions: morning, midday, and evening. Levant Voles excavate extensive burrows. Tunnels are shallow (10-20 cm below ground’s surface) in winter but can descend as deep as 60 cm. Even during hot summer days, temperatures inside burrows never exceed 20-24°C. Tunnels lead to a breeding chamber with spherical nest woven of dry plants and to 1-2 storing chambers. Old nests are repaired or built anew for each litter.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Levant Voles do not move widely. In Israel, 73% were caught within 10 m of distance. Levant Voleslive in family groups of a breeding pair and 5-12 young. Communal nests are exceptional, and largest recorded contained six males, eight females, and 68 young from at least two generations. Breeding in communal nests is common in captivity. Family burrow system covers 3-20 m? and up to 90 m*® in the case of large family groups.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. At the time of this classification, the Levant Vole still contained Harting’s Vole ( M. hartingi) and the Cyrenaica Vole (M. mustersi), now regarded as distinct species. The Levant Vole is common with no major conservation threats. It thrives in various habitat types, natural and man-made, and is even an agricultural pest.

Bibliography. Bodenheimer (1949), Cohen-Shlagman, Hellwing & Yom-Tov (1984), Cohen-Shlagman, Yom-Tov & Hellwing (1984), Krystufek & Vohralik (2005), Krystufek, Buzan et al. (2009), Yigit & Colak (2002), Zima et al. (2013).