The genus Arborimus is a group 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...

s found in western North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. The genus name means "tree mouse" in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

.

These animals live in forested areas and two species live in trees. They are small rodents with short ears and long legs. They are primarily herbivorous

Herbivore

Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...

. Predators include owl

Owl

Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...

s and mustelids.

Some sources include this genus with the heather vole

Heather vole

The genus Phenacomys is a group of North American voles. The genus name comes from the Greek for "imposter mouse."These animals live in forested, alpine and tundra areas, which often include plants of the heath family. They are small rodents with long fur and short ears, legs and tails. They eat...

s, genus Phenacomys.

Classification

The complete list of species is:

• White-footed Vole
  White-footed Vole
  The White-footed Vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in the United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.-Source:...
  
   (Arborimus albipes)
• Red Tree Vole
  Red Tree Vole
  The Red Tree Vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found only in the United States. Red tree voles are found in the upper branches of arboreal conifers throughout Northern California and Western Oregon. Their preference and food source is thought to be Douglas Fir and Redwood...
  
   (Arborimus longicaudus)
• Sonoma Tree Vole (Arborimus pomo)

Bellinger et al. (2005) and Blois and Arbogast (2006) determined on the basis of mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...

 that A. pomo and A. albipes are more closely related to one another than either are to A. longicaudus. This is in contrast to previous suggestions that A. albipes is the most basal

Basal (phylogenetics)

In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...

species in the genus (outlined in Musser and Carleton, 2005).