Western Red-backed Vole

About the Western Red-backed Vole

The western red-backed vole (Clethrionomys californicus) is a species of vole in the family Cricetidae. It is found in California and Oregon in the United States and lives mainly in coniferous forest. The body color is chestnut brown, or brown mixed with a considerable quantity of black hair gradually lightening on the sides and grading into a buffy-gray belly, with an indistinct reddish stripe on the back and a bicolored tail about half as long as the head and body.

The western red-backed vole was initially described by C. Hart Merriam under its original scientific name Evotomys californicus. The type specimen was obtained from near Eureka, California. It was an adult male collected by Theodore Sherman Palmer on June 3, 1889.

The length of the western red-backed vole ranges from 121–165 mm (4.8–6.5 in) overall, with a tail between 34–56 mm (1.3–2.2 in), hindfoot 17–21 mm (0.67–0.83 in), and ear 10–14 mm (0.39–0.55 in). The height ranges between 18–21 mm (0.71–0.83 in).

The species is closely related to the southern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi), which lives to the north and east of the range of this species, and is redder, with a more sharply... Wikipedia →