What is the main issue with the Amargosa vole in California?
The main threat over the last century to the Amargosa vole has been loss or degradation of habitat.
Why is the Amargosa vole important?
Amargosa voles are highly specialized small mammals that live only in the Mojave Desert where marshes form around natural springs and pools. They are one of the most endangered mammals in North America and are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
How many Amargosa voles are left?
Provided by Professor Janet Foley of UC Davis Veterinary Medicine. There are only a few hundred Amargosa voles left in the world with an 85% chance of going extinct over the next 10 years if intensive management is not implemented.
Are Amargosa voles endangered?
For Amargosa voles, existence has always been tenuous. They were first discovered in Shoshone, California, and formally described as a species in 1900. In 1980, habitat degradation and the animal’s small population led to its listing as an endangered species by the state of California.
Do Amargosa voles live in the desert?
The Amargosa vole inhabits highly localized and isolated wetlands in the central Mojave Desert in extreme southeastern Inyo County, just east of Death Valley National Park.
Are voles protected species?
Habitat. It is important to note that water voles and their habitats are protected in the UK – it is illegal to capture, harm or kill them. Water voles inhabit cool, damp ground, ditches, edges of streams, embankments, and extensively used meadows, grassy areas with young trees gardens, orchards and vineyards.
Are voles endangered in the US?
The Amargosa vole is listed as endangered in the state of California and federally by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Are voles endangered UK?
Conservation status Water voles are listed as endangered on both the Great Britain and the England Red List for Mammals.
Where does the Amargosa vole live?
Mojave Desert
The Amargosa vole (Microtus californicus scirpensis) is a desert subspecies of the widely distributed California vole (M. californicus). The Amargosa vole inhabits highly localized and isolated wetlands in the central Mojave Desert in extreme southeastern Inyo County, just east of Death Valley National Park.
Do voles come out in the daytime?
Voles are active day and night, year-round. You’ll normally find them in areas with dense vegetation. Voles dig many short, shallow burrows and make underground nests of grass, stems, and leaves. In areas with winter snow, voles will burrow in and through the snow to the surface.
Do voles carry disease?
Voles can bite, and they can carry many diseases including tularemia and rabies. But, as with moles, there is no documented case of a vole giving rabies to a human. These animals are not inclined to bite people.
Are meadow voles endangered?
Not extinct
Meadow voles/Extinction status
What kind of animal is an Amargosa vole?
The Amargosa vole is a small, mouse-like rodent. It has short ears and a short tail. The fur on the vole varies from a blondebrown to dark brown. The average size of a vole is 21 cm (8 in) long and weight is 60-90 g (1/8 lb). Males and females can be hard to tell apart, but juveniles can be distinguished from adults based on size.
What to do if you live near Amargosa voles?
If you live near Amargosa voles, you can help by protecting habitat and keeping pets indoors. Hiking on established trails and practicing “leave no trace” principles to prevent degrading or damaging vole habitat. Water quality is important to maintain vole habitat.
When does the Amargosa vole reach peak gestation?
The Amargosa vole possesses the ability to reproduce year-round, but highest rates of pregnancy are usually throughout March and April. The voles require green vegetation for reproduction so the timing of peak gestation corresponds with plant emergence in the spring and is partially controlled by timing of first rainfall.
What is the dental formula for the Amargosa vole?
The dental formula of Amargosa voles is 1.0.0.3 1.0.0.3, meaning there is one incisor in each of the upper and lower quadrants, no canines or premolars, and three molars in each of the upper and lower quadrants. They are characterized by an opening in the palatine bone directly behind the incisors.