The Tatra Pine Vole, Microtus tatricus, also called the Tatra vole or Tatra ground vole, is a species of 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...

 endemic to the Carpathian

Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

 mountain range in Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 and Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. Two subspecies have been recognised. M. t. tatricus occupies the western part of the range in Slovakia and Poland and M. t. zykovi is found in Ukraine and Romania.

Habitat preferences

The Tatra vole lives at altitudes of 650 to 2350 m a.s.l. The habitat occupied by the species is either humid rocky meadows in the subalpine zone or climax upper montane forest. Distribution range is insular and fragmented as a consequence of landscape altitudinal structure and habitat heterogeneity. The population of the Tatra vole has been estimated to 200,000–250,000 individuals and no population fluctuation or population outbreaks were recorded.

Evolutionary history

The reliable diagnostic character of M. tatricus is its karyotype

Karyotype

A karyotype is the number and appearance of chromosomes in the nucleus of an eukaryotic cell. The term is also used for the complete set of chromosomes in a species, or an individual organism.p28...

. Its diploid number of chromosome

Chromosome

A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...

s and the basic karyotype characteristics (2N=32, NF=46) are unique among voles of the genus Microtus

Microtus

The genus Microtus is a group of voles found in North America, Europe and northern Asia. The genus name refers to the small ears of these animals. There are 62 species in the genus....

. The species is genetically most closely related to Alpine voles Microtus multiplex, Microtus liechtensteini and Microtus bavaricus (Martinkova et al., 2007). It split from the common ancestor as the first, and the oldest fossil found to date is from Holocene

Holocene

The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...

.

The species is listed as Lower Risk/Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and in Appendix II of the Bern Convention

Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats

The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats 1979, also known as the Bern Convention , came into force on June 1, 1982....

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