56.

Royle’s Mountain Vole

Alticola roylei

French: Campagnol de Royle / German: Royle-Gebirgswiihimaus / Spanish: Topillo de montana de Royle

Other common names: Stolicaka's Mountain Vole

Taxonomy. Arvicola roylei Gray, 1842, “ India (Cashmere [= Kashmir]).”

In the past, A. royleiwas believed to encompass taxa that are currently classified as six distinct species: A. argentatus, A. montosus, A. albicauda, A. semicanus, A. tuvinicus, and A. olchonensis . Monotypic.

Distribution. NW India (Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) and W Nepal.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 91-117 mm, tail 29-48 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Royle’s Mountain Vole is dark and long-tailed, resembling the Kashmir Mountain Vole (A. montosus) in external appearance. Tail is 30-47% of head-body length, moderately hairy with distinct tuft. Back is dark brown, and belly is gray. Tail is bicolored. Skull has expanded zygomatic arches and small bullae. Molars are hypsodont and rootless, with squeezed dental fields and wide reentrant folds with little cement. M? has three inner salient angles.

Habitat. Accumulations of rocks and talus slopes at elevations of 2500-4300 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 Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. Royle’s Mountain Vole is presumed to be in significant decline because of large-scale habitat loss and close to being qualified as Vulnerable. Distribution is highly fragmented and covers only ¢.15,290 km?.

Bibliography. Krystufek, Shenbrot et al. (2017), Rossolimo & Pavlinov (1992).