Lemming
Encyclopedia
Lemmings are small rodent
s, usually found in or near the Arctic
, in tundra biome
s. They are subniveal animals
, and together with vole
s and muskrat
s, they make up the subfamily
Arvicolinae
(also known as Microtinae), which forms part of the largest mammal
radiation
by far, the superfamily Muroidea
, which also includes rat
s, mice
, hamster
s, and gerbil
s.
, and sedges
in particular, but also on roots and bulbs. At times, they will eat grubs and larva. Like other rodents, their incisor
s grow continuously, allowing them to exist on much tougher forage than would normally be possible.
Lemmings do not hibernate
through the harsh northern winter. They remain active, finding food by burrowing through the snow and utilizing grasses clipped and stored in advance. They are solitary animals by nature, meeting only to mate and then going their separate ways, but like all rodents they have a high reproductive rate and can breed rapidly when food is plentiful.
and Brown lemming
are two of the few vertebrates who reproduce so quickly that their population fluctuations are chaotic, rather than following linear growth to a carrying capacity or regular oscillations. It is unknown why lemming populations fluctuate with such variance roughly every four years, before plummeting to near extinction. Lemming behavior and appearance is markedly different from many other rodents, who are inconspicuously colored and try to conceal themselves from the predators. Lemmings, on the contrary, are conspicuously colored, and behave aggressively towards predators and even human observers. It has been suggested that lemming defense system is based on aposematism
(warning display)
While for many years it was believed that the population of lemming predator
s changed with the population cycle
, there is now some evidence to suggest that the predator's population may be more closely involved in changing the lemming population.
of the Inupiat/Yupik at Norton Sound
), and then died suddenly when the grass grew in spring. This description was contradicted by the natural historian Ole Worm
, who accepted that the lemmings could fall out of the sky but claimed that they had been brought over by the wind rather than created by spontaneous generation
. It was Worm who first published dissections of a lemming, which showed that they are anatomically similar to most other rodents, and the work of Carl Linnaeus proved that the animals had a natural origin.
Lemmings became the subject of a popular misconception that they commit mass suicide
when they migrate. Actually, it is not a mass suicide but the result of their migratory behavior. Driven by strong biological urges, some species of lemmings may migrate in large groups when population density becomes too great. Lemmings can swim and may choose to cross a body of water in search of a new habitat. In such cases, many may drown if the body of water is so wide as to stretch their physical capability to the limit. This fact combined with the unexplained fluctuations in the population of Norwegian lemmings gave rise to the misconception.
The misconception of lemming "mass suicide" is long-standing and has been popularized by a number of factors. In 1955, Disney Studio
illustrator Carl Barks
drew an Uncle Scrooge
adventure comic with the title "The Lemming with the Locket". This comic, which was inspired by a 1954 American Mercury
article, showed massive numbers of lemmings jumping over Norwegian cliffs. Even more influential was the 1958 Disney film White Wilderness, which won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature
, in which staged footage was shown with lemmings jumping into certain death after faked scenes of mass migration. A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
documentary, Cruel Camera, found that the lemmings used for White Wilderness were flown from Hudson Bay
to Calgary
, Alberta
, Canada, where they did not jump off the cliff, but were in fact launched off the cliff using a turntable.
This same act was also used in the Apple Computer
1985 Super Bowl commercial "Lemmings" and the popular 1991 video game Lemmings
, in which the player must stop the lemmings from mindlessly marching over cliffs or into traps. In a 2010 board game by GMT games, "Leaping Lemmings," players must maneuver lemmings across a board while avoiding hazards and successfully launch them off a cliff.
Because of their association with this odd behavior, lemming suicide is a frequently used metaphor
in reference to people who go along unquestioningly with popular opinion, with potentially dangerous or fatal consequences. This metaphor is seen many times in popular culture, such as in the video game Lemmings, and in episodes of Red Dwarf
and Adult Swim
's show Robot Chicken
. The Blink 182 song "Lemmings" also uses this metaphor as does the 1973 stage show National Lampoon's Lemmings
starring John Belushi
and mocking post-Woodstock groupthink
.
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s, usually found in or near the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
, in tundra biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
s. They are subniveal animals
Subnivean
Subnivean refers to a zone that is in or under the snow layer. From the Latin for "under" and "snow" . This space can form when latent heat from the ground melts a thin layer of snow above it, leaving, in places, a layer of air between the ground and the additional snow cover...
, and together with vole
Vole
A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars . There are approximately 155 species of voles. They are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in North America...
s and muskrat
Muskrat
The muskrat , the only species in genus Ondatra, is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats...
s, they make up the subfamily
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Arvicolinae
Arvicolinae
The Arvicolinae are a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. They are most closely related to the other subfamilies in the Cricetidae . Some authorities place the subfamily Arvicolinae in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea...
(also known as Microtinae), which forms part of the largest mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
radiation
Evolutionary radiation
An evolutionary radiation is an increase in taxonomic diversity or morphological disparity, due to adaptive change or the opening of ecospace. Radiations may affect one clade or many, and be rapid or gradual; where they are rapid, and driven by a single lineage's adaptation to their environment,...
by far, the superfamily Muroidea
Muroidea
Muroidea is a large superfamily of rodents. It includes hamsters, gerbils, true mice and rats, and many other relatives. They occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to...
, which also includes rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s, mice
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
, hamster
Hamster
Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species, classified in six or seven genera....
s, and gerbil
Gerbil
A gerbil is a small mammal of the order Rodentia. Once known simply as "desert rats", the gerbil subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats...
s.
Description and habitat
Lemmings weigh from 30 gram and are about 7 centimetre long. They generally have long, soft fur, and very short tails. They are herbivorous, feeding mostly on leaves and shoots, grassesPoaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
, and sedges
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
in particular, but also on roots and bulbs. At times, they will eat grubs and larva. Like other rodents, their incisor
Incisor
Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and mandible below.-Function:...
s grow continuously, allowing them to exist on much tougher forage than would normally be possible.
Lemmings do not hibernate
Hibernation
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...
through the harsh northern winter. They remain active, finding food by burrowing through the snow and utilizing grasses clipped and stored in advance. They are solitary animals by nature, meeting only to mate and then going their separate ways, but like all rodents they have a high reproductive rate and can breed rapidly when food is plentiful.
Behavior
The behavior of lemmings is much the same as that of many other rodents which have periodic population booms and then disperse in all directions, seeking the food and shelter that their natural habitat cannot provide. The Norway lemmingNorway lemming
The Norway lemming , Lemmus lemmus, is a common species of lemming found in northern Scandinavia and adjacent areas of Russia. It is the only vertebrate species endemic to the region. The Norway lemming dwells in tundra and fells, and prefers to live near water. Adults feed primarily on...
and Brown lemming
Siberian Brown Lemming
The Siberian Brown Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in Canada, Russian Federation, and United States.It does not hibernate during winter, because it lives in burrows. It is prey to several animals including the snowy owl and the Arctic fox.-References:*Musser,...
are two of the few vertebrates who reproduce so quickly that their population fluctuations are chaotic, rather than following linear growth to a carrying capacity or regular oscillations. It is unknown why lemming populations fluctuate with such variance roughly every four years, before plummeting to near extinction. Lemming behavior and appearance is markedly different from many other rodents, who are inconspicuously colored and try to conceal themselves from the predators. Lemmings, on the contrary, are conspicuously colored, and behave aggressively towards predators and even human observers. It has been suggested that lemming defense system is based on aposematism
Aposematism
Aposematism , perhaps most commonly known in the context of warning colouration, describes a family of antipredator adaptations where a warning signal is associated with the unprofitability of a prey item to potential predators...
(warning display)
While for many years it was believed that the population of lemming predator
Predation
In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...
s changed with the population cycle
Population cycle
A population cycle in zoology is a phenomenon where populations rise and fall over a predictable period of time. There are some species where population numbers have reasonably predictable patterns of change although the full reasons for population cycles is one of the major unsolved ecological...
, there is now some evidence to suggest that the predator's population may be more closely involved in changing the lemming population.
Misconceptions
Misconceptions about lemmings go back many centuries. In the 1530s, the geographer Zeigler of Strasbourg proposed the theory that the creatures fell out of the sky during stormy weather (also featured in the folkloreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
of the Inupiat/Yupik at Norton Sound
Norton Sound
Norton Sound is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km long and 200 km wide. The Yukon River delta forms a portion of the south shore and water from the Yukon influences this body of water...
), and then died suddenly when the grass grew in spring. This description was contradicted by the natural historian Ole Worm
Ole Worm
Ole Worm , who often went by the Latinized form of his name Olaus Wormius, was a Danish physician and antiquary.-Life:...
, who accepted that the lemmings could fall out of the sky but claimed that they had been brought over by the wind rather than created by spontaneous generation
Spontaneous generation
Spontaneous generation or Equivocal generation is an obsolete principle regarding the origin of life from inanimate matter, which held that this process was a commonplace and everyday occurrence, as distinguished from univocal generation, or reproduction from parent...
. It was Worm who first published dissections of a lemming, which showed that they are anatomically similar to most other rodents, and the work of Carl Linnaeus proved that the animals had a natural origin.
Mass suicide
- Examples :Mass suicide sometimes occurs in religious or cultic settings. Defeated groups may resort to mass suicide rather than being captured. Suicide pacts are a form of mass suicide unconnected to cults or war that are sometimes planned or carried out by small groups of frustrated people...
when they migrate. Actually, it is not a mass suicide but the result of their migratory behavior. Driven by strong biological urges, some species of lemmings may migrate in large groups when population density becomes too great. Lemmings can swim and may choose to cross a body of water in search of a new habitat. In such cases, many may drown if the body of water is so wide as to stretch their physical capability to the limit. This fact combined with the unexplained fluctuations in the population of Norwegian lemmings gave rise to the misconception.
The misconception of lemming "mass suicide" is long-standing and has been popularized by a number of factors. In 1955, Disney Studio
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
illustrator Carl Barks
Carl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
drew an Uncle Scrooge
Uncle Scrooge
Uncle Scrooge is a comic book with the stingy Scrooge McDuck "the richest duck in the world" as the main character. The series also featured Donald Duck and his nephews as supporting characters. The first 70 issues mostly consisted of stories written and drawn by Carl Barks, the creator of Scrooge...
adventure comic with the title "The Lemming with the Locket". This comic, which was inspired by a 1954 American Mercury
The American Mercury
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924 to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s...
article, showed massive numbers of lemmings jumping over Norwegian cliffs. Even more influential was the 1958 Disney film White Wilderness, which won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature
Academy Award for Documentary Feature
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
, in which staged footage was shown with lemmings jumping into certain death after faked scenes of mass migration. A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
documentary, Cruel Camera, found that the lemmings used for White Wilderness were flown from Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
to Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada, where they did not jump off the cliff, but were in fact launched off the cliff using a turntable.
This same act was also used in the Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
1985 Super Bowl commercial "Lemmings" and the popular 1991 video game Lemmings
Lemmings (video game)
Lemmings is a puzzle computer game developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in . Originally developed for PC and Commodore Amiga, Lemmings was one of the most popular computer games of its time, and several gaming magazines gave it some of their highest review scores at the time...
, in which the player must stop the lemmings from mindlessly marching over cliffs or into traps. In a 2010 board game by GMT games, "Leaping Lemmings," players must maneuver lemmings across a board while avoiding hazards and successfully launch them off a cliff.
Because of their association with this odd behavior, lemming suicide is a frequently used metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
in reference to people who go along unquestioningly with popular opinion, with potentially dangerous or fatal consequences. This metaphor is seen many times in popular culture, such as in the video game Lemmings, and in episodes of Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
and Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
's show Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...
. The Blink 182 song "Lemmings" also uses this metaphor as does the 1973 stage show National Lampoon's Lemmings
National Lampoon's Lemmings
National Lampoon's Lemmings, a spinoff of the humor magazine National Lampoon, was a 1973 stage show which helped launch the performing careers of John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase. The show was co-written and co-directed by a number of people including Sean Kelly...
starring John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
and mocking post-Woodstock groupthink
Groupthink
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people. It is the mode of thinking that happens when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without...
.
Classification
- Order RodentRodentRodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
ia- Superfamily MuroideaMuroideaMuroidea is a large superfamily of rodents. It includes hamsters, gerbils, true mice and rats, and many other relatives. They occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Some authorities have placed all members of this group into a single family, Muridae, due to...
- Family CricetidaeCricetidaeThe Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, and New World rats and mice...
- Subfamily ArvicolinaeArvicolinaeThe Arvicolinae are a subfamily of rodents that includes the voles, lemmings, and muskrats. They are most closely related to the other subfamilies in the Cricetidae . Some authorities place the subfamily Arvicolinae in the family Muridae along with all other members of the superfamily Muroidea...
: voles, lemmings, and related species- Tribe Lemmini
- DicrostonyxCollared lemmingDicrostonyx is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It contains the collared lemmings.It contains the following species:* Northern Collared Lemming * Ungava Collared Lemming...
- St. Lawrence Island Collared LemmingNelson's Collared LemmingNelson's Collared Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in western and southwestern Alaska in the United States.-References:...
(Dicrostonyx exsul) - Northern Collared LemmingNorthern Collared LemmingThe Northern Collared Lemming , sometimes called the Peary Land Collared Lemming in Canada, is a small North American lemming. At one time, it was considered to be a subspecies of the Arctic Lemming...
(Dicrostonyx groenlandicus) or - Ungava Collared LemmingUngava Collared LemmingThe Ungava Collared Lemming or Labrador Collared Lemming, Dicrostonyx hudsonius is a small North American lemming.They have short chunky bodies covered with brownish-grey fur with a thin dark stripe along their back and a yellow line along their sides. They have small ears, short legs and a very...
(Dicrostonyx hudsonius) - Victoria Collared LemmingNorthern Collared LemmingThe Northern Collared Lemming , sometimes called the Peary Land Collared Lemming in Canada, is a small North American lemming. At one time, it was considered to be a subspecies of the Arctic Lemming...
(Dicrostonyx kilangmiutak) - Nelson's Collared LemmingNelson's Collared LemmingNelson's Collared Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in western and southwestern Alaska in the United States.-References:...
(Dicrostonyx nelsoni) - Ogilvie Mountains Collared LemmingOgilvie Mountains Collared LemmingThe Ogilvie Mountains Collared Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found only in Canada.Its natural habitat is tundra....
(Dicrostonyx nunatakensis) - Richardson's Collared LemmingRichardson's Collared LemmingThe Richardson's Collared Lemming, Dicrostonyx richardsoni is a small North American lemming. At one time, they were considered to be a subspecies of the Arctic Lemming, Dicrostonyx torquatus...
(Dicrostonyx richardsoni) - Bering Collared LemmingNorthern Collared LemmingThe Northern Collared Lemming , sometimes called the Peary Land Collared Lemming in Canada, is a small North American lemming. At one time, it was considered to be a subspecies of the Arctic Lemming...
(Dicrostonyx rubricatus) - Arctic LemmingArctic LemmingThe Arctic Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found only in The Arctic Biomes in Russia and Canada.-References:...
(Dicrostonyx torquatus) - Unalaska Collared LemmingUnalaska Collared LemmingThe Unalaska Collared Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.This species is found on two islands, Umnak and Unalaska, in the Aleutian Archipelago of Alaska in the United States....
(Dicrostonyx unalascensis) - Wrangel LemmingWrangel LemmingThe Wrangel Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found only in Russia.Its natural habitat is tundra.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
(Dicrostonyx vinogradovi)
- St. Lawrence Island Collared Lemming
- LemmusTrue lemmingThe genus Lemmus contains several species of lemming sometimes referred to as the true lemmings. They are distributed throughout the Holarctic, particularly in the Palearctic.-Description:...
- Amur LemmingAmur LemmingThe Amur Lemming is a species of lemming found near the Amur River on the side of Siberia. The Amur Lemming is on the IUCN Red List.-External links:IUCN Red List information:...
(Lemmus amurensis) - Norway lemmingNorway lemmingThe Norway lemming , Lemmus lemmus, is a common species of lemming found in northern Scandinavia and adjacent areas of Russia. It is the only vertebrate species endemic to the region. The Norway lemming dwells in tundra and fells, and prefers to live near water. Adults feed primarily on...
(Lemmus lemmus) - Siberian Brown LemmingSiberian Brown LemmingThe Siberian Brown Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in Canada, Russian Federation, and United States.It does not hibernate during winter, because it lives in burrows. It is prey to several animals including the snowy owl and the Arctic fox.-References:*Musser,...
(Lemmus sibiricus) - North American Brown LemmingNorth American Brown LemmingThe North American brown lemming, Lemmus trimucronatus, is a small North American lemming. Originally called the Siberian Brown Lemming Lemmus sibiricus it was later decided that they formed two distinct species....
(Lemmus trimucronatus) - Wrangel Island LemmingWrangel Island LemmingThe Wrangel Island Lemming or Lemmus portenkoi, is a species of lemming endemic to Wrangel Island in Russia. It was included as a subspecies of L. sibiricus by Jarrell and Fredga in 1993, while Chernyavskii regarded it as a separate species.-References:*D.E. Wilson & D.M. Reeder, 2005: Mammal...
(Lemmus portenkoi)
- Amur Lemming
- MyopusWood LemmingThe Wood Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It belongs into the Arvicolinae subfamily of rodents therefore is a relative of the voles, lemmings, and muskrats....
- Wood LemmingWood LemmingThe Wood Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It belongs into the Arvicolinae subfamily of rodents therefore is a relative of the voles, lemmings, and muskrats....
(Myopus schisticolor)
- Wood Lemming
- SynaptomysBog lemmingThe genus Synaptomys is a group of North American lemmings.These animals live in wet forested and open areas. They are small round rodents with large heads, short ears, legs and tails. They eat green vegetation such as grasses and sedges...
- Northern Bog LemmingNorthern Bog LemmingThe Northern Bog Lemming, Synaptomys borealis is a small North American lemming. This is one of two species in genus Synaptomys, the other being the Southern Bog Lemming....
(Synaptomys borealis) - Southern Bog LemmingSouthern Bog LemmingThe Southern Bog Lemming, Synaptomys cooperi is a small North American lemming. Its range overlaps with the other species in genus Synaptomys, the Northern Bog Lemming, in southeastern Canada but extends further south....
(Synaptomys cooperi)
- Northern Bog Lemming
- Dicrostonyx
- Tribe ArvicoliniArvicoliniArvicolini is a tribe of voles in the subfamily Arvicolinae.-List of species:Tribe Arvicolini*Genus Arvicola - water voles**European Water Vole, Arvicola amphibius ...
: over 120 species- EolagurusEolagurusEolagurus is a genus of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It contains the following species:* Yellow Steppe Lemming * Przewalski's Steppe Lemming -References:...
- Yellow Steppe LemmingYellow Steppe LemmingThe Yellow Steppe Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.Its natural habitat is temperate desert.-References:...
(Eolagurus luteus) - Przewalski's Steppe LemmingPrzewalski's Steppe LemmingPrzewalski's Steppe Lemming is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in China and Mongolia.-References:* Baillie, J. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
(Eolagurus przewalskii)
- Yellow Steppe Lemming
- LagurusSteppe LemmingThe steppe lemming or steppe vole is a small, plump, light grey rodent, similar in appearance to the Norway lemming but not in the same genus. The steppe lemming eats shoots and leaves and is more active at night though it is not strictly nocturnal. In the wild it is found in Russia and Ukraine...
- Steppe LemmingSteppe LemmingThe steppe lemming or steppe vole is a small, plump, light grey rodent, similar in appearance to the Norway lemming but not in the same genus. The steppe lemming eats shoots and leaves and is more active at night though it is not strictly nocturnal. In the wild it is found in Russia and Ukraine...
(Lagurus lagurus)
- Steppe Lemming
- Over 100 other species not known as lemmings
- Eolagurus
- Tribe Lemmini
- Subfamily Arvicolinae
- Family Cricetidae
- Superfamily Muroidea
External links
article by Nils Christian Stenseth on the population cycles of lemmings and other northern rodents.-
- See also The Lemming Cycle, in HTML format. Article about Collared Lemming, see also the main page on Alaskan mammals
- Rebuttal of lemming suicide: