Townsend's vole | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Cricetidae |
Subfamily: | Arvicolinae |
Genus: | Microtus |
Subgenus: | Pitymys |
Species: | M. townsendii
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Binomial name | |
Microtus townsendii | |
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Synonyms[3] | |
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Townsend's vole (Microtus townsendii) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae, the sister species of M. canicaudus.[3] It is found in temperate grasslands of British Columbia in Canada and in the states of Washington and Oregon in the United States.[1][4]
Greek root words for "small ear" are the source for the genus name Microtus.[4] American naturalist and writer John Kirk Townsend collected the type specimen in 1835, which accounts for the second part of the name.[5][6]