Ungava Collared Lemming
Encyclopedia
The Ungava Collared Lemming or Labrador Collared Lemming, Dicrostonyx hudsonius is a small North America
n 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 short tail. They have a reddish collar across their chest and a reddish patch behind their ears. In winter, they are covered with white fur and they develop enlarged digging claws on their front feet. They are 14 cm long with a 1.5 cm tail and weigh about 60 g.
These animals are found in the tundra
of northern Quebec
and Labrador
. They feed on grasses, sedges and other green vegetation in summer and twigs of willow
, aspen
and birch
es in winter. Predators include Snowy Owl
s, mustelids and Arctic Fox
es.
Female lemmings have 2 or 3 litters of 4 to 8 young in a year. The young are born in a nest in an underground burrow or concealed in vegetation.
They are active year round, day and night. They make runways through the surface vegetation and also dig underground burrows above the permafrost
. They burrow under the snow in winter. Lemming populations go through a 3 or 4 year cycle of boom and bust. When their population peaks, lemmings disperse from overcrowded areas.
Remains of these animals dating back to the end of the last ice age
have been discovered in the Ottawa valley
, far south of their current range.
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...
n lemming
Lemming
Lemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
.
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 short tail. They have a reddish collar across their chest and a reddish patch behind their ears. In winter, they are covered with white fur and they develop enlarged digging claws on their front feet. They are 14 cm long with a 1.5 cm tail and weigh about 60 g.
These animals are found in the tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
of northern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
. They feed on grasses, sedges and other green vegetation in summer and twigs of willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
, aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
and birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
es in winter. Predators include Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl
The Snowy Owl is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organize plants and animals. The bird is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl, Great...
s, mustelids and Arctic Fox
Arctic fox
The arctic fox , also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. The Greek word alopex, means a fox and Vulpes is the Latin version...
es.
Female lemmings have 2 or 3 litters of 4 to 8 young in a year. The young are born in a nest in an underground burrow or concealed in vegetation.
They are active year round, day and night. They make runways through the surface vegetation and also dig underground burrows above the permafrost
Permafrost
In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
. They burrow under the snow in winter. Lemming populations go through a 3 or 4 year cycle of boom and bust. When their population peaks, lemmings disperse from overcrowded areas.
Remains of these animals dating back to the end of the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
have been discovered in the Ottawa valley
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
, far south of their current range.