Bavarian pine vole
The Bavarian vole ( Microtus bavaricus ) is a mammal of the subfamily of voles ( Arvicolinae ). The species described in 1962 is endemic to the Northern Limestone Alps and is used today only in the Brandenberg Alps in Tirol before.
Mark
The Bavarian vole is slightly larger than the similar vole. The head-body length is 88-106 mm, tail length 32-44 mm, the length of the hind foot 15-17 mm and the ear length 7-12 mm. The animals weighing 18-28 g The fur is yellowish brown, the dorsum of the foot are hairy whitish. Ears are almost completely hidden in the fur. The skull should be slightly domed and the auditory capsules are relatively large. The Bavarian vole is of the extremely similar and closely related two species Alpine Kleinwühlmaus ( Microtus multiplex ) and Illyrian vole (M. Liechtenstein ) only molecular genetic or distinguishable by the comparative analysis of several dental and cranial dimensions.
Distribution and habitat
The species is endemic to the Northern Limestone Alps, where known only from two localities. One is located in Bavaria, near Garmisch -Partenkirchen, the second in Rofan, a part of the Brandenberg Alps in the north of the Tyrol. The habitat in Garmisch -Partenkirchen consisted of moderately moist grassy slopes near a creek about 730 m altitude. In Tyrol the animals inhabit a very open and used until 2005 as forest grazing mixed forest, which is dominated by spruce. This site is located in 730-1100 m above sea level and also has numerous streams on.
Way of life
The animals live in underground, flat extending below the ground surface transitions; the accumulated while digging the soil is raised transitions to hummocks. The species is diurnal and nocturnal. The food should occasionally consist of underground plant parts also of grasses and herbs.
Inventory and risk
The Bavarian vole was only discovered in 1962 near Garmisch -Partenkirchen. At that time, were captured and determined using morphological characteristics as a new species with mousetraps 23 animals. After that the species could there not be detected and was considered lost. The incidence in Tyrol was discovered in 1976 and 1977, but identified belonging by genetic and karyological investigations as to this kind only in 2000.
The site at Garmisch -Partenkirchen was destroyed by the construction of a hospital. In the Tyrol is the last known occurrence so far not been adequately protected. There, the forest grazing has been abandoned in 2005. Large parts of the inhabited by the way forest have been cleared since then and converted into fenced cattle pastures. For the rest of the forest after the cessation of forest grazing a strong compaction of the ground-level vegetation and increased forest use is feared.
2009, launched a research project, under which the distribution, ecological requirements and population size of the species to be studied and should be in a management plan for the forest pastures at the end.
Despite intensive search more deposits could be detected neither in Germany nor in Austria in the vicinity of known records. In Germany, the species is listed in the Red List as " Extinct ". The IUCN classified the species due to the very little known area and the local ongoing habitat destruction as " threatened with extinction " ( Critically Endangered ).