Arctic lemming

Species of rodent

Arctic lemming

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Mammalia
Order:  | Rodentia
Family:  | Cricetidae
Subfamily:  | Arvicolinae
Genus:  | Dicrostonyx
Species:  |

D. torquatus

Binomial name
Dicrostonyx torquatus

(Pallas, 1778)

The Arctic lemming (Dicrostonyx torquatus) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.

Although generally classified as a "least concern" species, the Novaya Zemlya subspecies (Dicrostonyx torquatus ungulatus) is considered a vulnerable species under Russian nature conservation legislation (included in Red Book of Russian Federation since 1998).[1]

## Biology[edit]

It is found only in the Arctic biomes in the Russian Federation, and it is the most common mammal on Severnaya Zemlya.[2] Specimens were once found in England, but they are now extirpated. For the most part, lemmings of the genus Lemmus can coexist with those of genus Dicrostonyx.[3] Arctic lemmings migrate when population density becomes too great, and they resort to swimming in search of a new habitat.[4] The disappearance of lemmings and the lemming cycles in the Arctic have shown that they are the causes of fluctuations in local breeding among geese and waders.[5] Recovery of lemmings after years of low density is associated with a period of successful breeding and maintenance of their young in the snow.[6]

The diet of the Arctic lemming has been studied, and it has been found to consist of 86% dicotyledons, 14% monocotyledons, and less than 1% mosses. The diet of a family of lemmings consists mostly of Saliceae, although Poaceae are also in their diet.[7]

They are a well studied example of a cyclic predator−prey relationship. Terns in the Arctic target lemmings that move in groups; after attacks, lemmings seek shelter in holes or elsewhere out of the terns' territory to avoid additional attacks.[8]

## Environment[edit]

During the winter, Arctic lemmings make nests in order to help maintain thermoregulation, maintaining their young, and aids in their survival against predators.[9] One of their predators is the Arctic Fox and they would find that it difficult to hunt lemmings because they would burrow themselves deep within the snow. The fox would then have to dig through the snow in order to reach them.[10] Unfortunately, when snow is scarce and there isn't much for the lemmings to make a nest or burrow in, there would be periodic disappearances of lemmings because of hunting by other predators and their inability to protect themselves.[10]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Tsytsulina, K.; Formozov, N. & Sheftel, B. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Dicrostonyx torquatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T6568A115082665. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T6568A22332073.en. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
2. ^ Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World : a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 894–1531.
3. ^ Angerbjorn, Anders; Erlinge, Sam; Tannerfeldt, Magnus (January 1, 1991). "Predator-Prey Relationships: Arctic Foxes and Lemmings". Journal of Animal Ecology. 68 (1): 34–49. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.1999.00258.x. JSTOR 2647297.
4. ^ "Arctic Lemming". Polar Husky. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
5. ^ Aharon-Rotman, Yaara; Soloviev, Mikhail; Minton, Clive; Tomkovich, Pavel; Hassell, Chris; Klaassen, Marcel (2015-07-01). "Loss of periodicity in breeding success of waders links to changes in lemming cycles in Arctic ecosystems". Oikos. 124 (7): 861–870. Bibcode:2015Oikos.124..861A. doi:10.1111/oik.01730. ISSN 1600-0706.
6. ^ "Arctic Report Card - Lemmings - Reid, et al". www.arctic.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
7. ^ Soininen, Eeva M.; Gauthier, Gilles; Bilodeau, Frédéric; Berteaux, Dominique; Gielly, Ludovic; Taberlet, Pierre; Gussarova, Galina; Bellemain, Eva; Hassel, Kristian (2015-01-30). "Highly Overlapping Winter Diet in Two Sympatric Lemming Species Revealed by DNA Metabarcoding". PLOS One. 10 (1): e0115335. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1015335S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115335. PMC 4312081. PMID 25635852.
8. ^ Mallory, M. L.; Boadway, K. A.; Boadway, J. J. T.; Akearok, J. A. (2010-01-01). "Breeding Arctic Terns Kill Lemmings". Arctic. 63 (3): 359–361. doi:10.14430/arctic1499. ISSN 1923-1245.
9. ^ Fauteux, Dominique; Gauthier, Gilles; Berteaux, Dominique (2015-09-01). "Seasonal demography of a cyclic lemming population in the Canadian Arctic". Journal of Animal Ecology. 84 (5): 1412–1422. Bibcode:2015JAnEc..84.1412F. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12385. ISSN 1365-2656. PMID 25939755.
10. ^ a b Bilodeau, Frédéric; Gauthier, Gilles; Berteaux, Dominique (2013-08-16). "Effect of snow cover on the vulnerability of lemmings to mammalian predators in the Canadian Arctic". Journal of Mammalogy. 94 (4): 813–819. doi:10.1644/12-MAMM-A-260.1. ISSN 0022-2372. S2CID 86712078.

## External links[edit]

* Media related to Dicrostonyx torquatus at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Extant species of subfamily Arvicolinae

* Kingdom: Animalia
* Phylum: Chordata
* Class: Mammalia
* Infraclass: Eutheria
* Superorder: Euarchontoglires
* Order: Rodentia
* Family: Cricetidae

Arvicolini|

| Arvicola
(Water voles)|

* European water vole (A. amphibius)
* Southwestern water vole (A. sapidus)
* Montane water vole (A. scherman)

|

Microtini|

| Alexandromys|

* Clarke's vole (M. clarkei)
* Evorsk vole (M. evoronensis)
* Reed vole (M. fortis)
* Gerbe's vole (M. gerbei)
* Taiwan vole (M. kikuchii)
* Lacustrine vole (M. limnophilus)
* Maximowicz's vole (M. maximowiczii)
* Middendorff's vole (M. middendorffi)
* Mongolian vole (M. mongolicus)
* Japanese grass vole (M. montebelli)
* Muisk vole (M. mujanensis)
* Tundra vole (M. oeconomus)
* Sakhalin vole (M. sachalinensis)

|

Chionomys
(Snow voles)|

* Caucasian snow vole (C. gud)
* European snow vole (C. nivalis)
* Robert's snow vole (C. roberti)

Hyperacrius
(Voles from Pakistan)|

* True's vole (H. fertilis)
* Murree vole (H. wynnei)

Lasiopodomys|

* Brandt's vole (L. brandtii)
* Plateau vole (L. fuscus)
* Mandarin vole (L. mandarinus)

Lemmiscus|

* Sagebrush vole (L. curtatus)

Microtus
(Voles)|

* Subgenus Microtus: Field vole (M. agrestis)
* Anatolian vole (M. anatolicus)
* Common vole (M. arvalis)
* Cabrera's vole (M. cabrerae)
* Doğramaci's vole (M. dogramacii)
* Günther's vole (M. guentheri)
* Tien Shan vole (M. ilaeus)
* Persian vole (M. irani)
* Kerman vole (M. kermanensis)
* Southern vole (M. levis)
* Paradox vole (M. paradoxus)
* Qazvin vole (M. qazvinensis)
* Schidlovsky's vole (M. schidlovskii)
* Social vole (M. socialis)
* European pine vole (M. subterraneus)
* Transcaspian vole (M. transcaspicus)

* Subgenus Blanfordimys: Afghan vole (B. afghanus)
* Bucharian vole (B. bucharicus)
* Juniper vole (B. juldaschi)

* Subgenus Terricola: Bavarian pine vole (M. bavaricus)
* Calabria pine vole (M. brachycercus)
* Daghestan pine vole (M. daghestanicus)
* Mediterranean pine vole (M. duodecimcostatus)
* Felten's vole (M. felteni)
* Liechtenstein's pine vole (M. liechtensteini)
* Lusitanian pine vole (M. lusitanicus)
* Major's pine vole (M. majori)
* Alpine pine vole (M. multiplex)
* Savi's pine vole (M. savii)
* Tatra pine vole (M. tatricus)
* Thomas's pine vole (M. thomasi)

* Subgenus Mynomes: Beach Vole (M. breweri)
* Gray-tailed vole (M. canicaudus)
* Montane vole (M. montanus)
* Creeping vole (M. oregoni)
* Meadow vole (M. pennsylvanicus)
* Townsend's vole (M. townsendii)

* Subgenus Pitymys: Guatemalan vole (M. guatemalensis)
* Tarabundí vole (M. oaxacensis)
* Woodland Vole (M. pinetorum)
* Jalapan pine vole (M. quasiater)

* Subgenus Pedomys: Prairie vole (M. ochrogaster)

* Subgenus Hyrcanicola: Schelkovnikov's pine vole (M. schelkovnikovi)

* incertae sedis: Insular vole (M. abbreviatus)
* California vole (M. californicus)
* Rock vole (M. chrotorrhinus)
* Long-tailed vole (M. longicaudus)
* Mexican vole (M. mexicanus)
* Singing vole (M. miurus)
* Water vole (M. richardsoni)
* Zempoaltépec vole (M. umbrosus)
* Taiga vole (M. xanthognathus)

Neodon
(Mountain voles)|

* Forrest's mountain vole (N. forresti)
* Chinese scrub vole (N. irene)
* Linzhi mountain vole (N. linzhiensis)
* Sikkim mountain vole (N. sikimensis)
* Blyth's vole (N. leucurus)

Proedromys|

* Duke of Bedford's vole (P. bedfordi)
* P. liangshanensis

Stenocranius|

* Narrow-headed vole (S. gregalis)
* Radde's vole (S. raddei)

Volemys|

* Szechuan vole (V. millicens)
* Marie's vole (V. musseri)

Dicrostonychini
(Collared lemmings)|

| Dicrostonyx|

* Northern collared lemming (D. groenlandicus)
* Ungava collared lemming (D. hudsonius)
* Nelson's collared lemming (D. nelsoni)
* Ogilvie Mountains collared lemming (D. nunatakensis)
* Richardson's collared lemming (D. richardsoni)
* Arctic lemming (D. torquatus)
* Unalaska collared lemming (D. unalascensis)

|

Ellobiusini
(mole voles)|

| Ellobius
(Mole voles)|

* Alai mole vole (E. alaicus)
* Southern mole vole (E. fuscocapillus)
* Transcaucasian mole vole (E. lutescens)
* Northern mole vole (E. talpinus)
* Zaisan mole vole (E. tancrei)

|

Lagurini
(Steppe lemmings)|

| Eolagurus|

* Yellow steppe lemming (E. luteus)
* Przewalski's steppe lemming (E. przewalskii)

|

Lagurus|

* Steppe lemming (L. lagurus)

Lemmini
(Lemmings)|

| Lemmus
(True lemmings)|

* Amur lemming (L. amurensis)
* Norway lemming (L. lemmus)
* Beringian lemming (L. nigripes)
* Wrangel Island lemming (L. paulus)
* Siberian brown lemming (L. sibiricus)
* North American brown lemming (L. trimucronatus)

|

Myopus|

* Wood lemming (M. schisticolor)

Synaptomys
(Bog lemmings)|

* Northern bog lemming (S. borealis)
* Southern bog lemming (S. cooperi)

Clethrionomyini|

| Alticola
(Voles from
Central Asia)|

* Subgenus Alticola: White-tailed mountain vole (A. albicauda)
* Silver mountain vole (A. argentatus)
* Gobi Altai mountain vole (A. barakshin)
* Central Kashmir vole (A. montosa)
* Royle's mountain vole (A. roylei)
* Mongolian silver vole (A. semicanus)
* Stolička's mountain vole (A. stoliczkanus)
* Tuva silver vole (A. tuvinicus)

* Subgenus Aschizomys: Lemming vole (A. lemminus)
* Large-eared vole (A. macrotis)
* Lake Baikal mountain vole (A. olchonensis)

* Subgenus Platycranius: Flat-headed vole (A. strelzowi)

|

Caryomys|

* Ganzu vole (C. eva)
* Kolan vole (C. inez)

Eothenomys
(Voles from
East Asia)|

* Kachin red-backed vole (E. cachinus)
* Pratt's vole (E. chinensis)
* Southwest China vole (E. custos)
* Père David's vole (E. melanogaster)
* Yunnan red-backed vole (E. miletus)
* Chaotung vole (E. olitor)
* Yulungshan vole (E. proditor)
* Ward's red-backed vole (E. wardi)

Clethrionomys
(some Red-backed
voles)|

* Western red-backed vole (C. californicus)
* Tien Shan red-backed vole (C. centralis)
* Southern red-backed Vole (C. gapperi)
* Bank vole (C. glareolus)
* Imaizumi's red-backed vole (C. imaizumii)
* Northern red-backed vole (C. rutilus)
* Shansei vole (C. shanseius)

Craseomys
(other Red-backed
voles)|

* Japanese red-backed vole (C. andersoni)
* Royal vole (C. regulus)
* Hokkaido red-backed vole (C. rex)
* Grey red-backed vole (C. rufocanus)
* Smith's vole (C. smithii)

Ondatrini|

| Neofiber|

* Round-tailed muskrat (N. alleni)

|

Ondatra|

* Muskrat (O. zibethicus)

Pliomyini|

| Dinaromys|

* Balkan snow vole (D. bogdanovi)

|

Pliophenacomyini|

| Arborimus
(Tree voles)|

* White-footed vole (A. albipes)
* Red tree vole (A. longicaudus)
* California red tree mouse (A. pomo)

|

Phenacomys
(Heather voles)|

* Western heather vole (P. intermedius)
* Eastern heather vole (P. ungava)

Prometheomyini|

| Prometheomys|

* Long-clawed mole vole (P. schaposchnikowi)

|

Taxon identifiers

Dicrostonyx torquatus|

* Wikidata: Q305615
* Wikispecies: Dicrostonyx torquatus
* BOLD: 162010
* CoL: 6D5R6
* EoL: 328422
* EUNIS: 16415
* Fauna Europaea: 305618
* Fauna Europaea (new): 673cd3b8-9d2b-48d9-be4f-b6e03369ae74
* GBIF: 2438384
* iNaturalist: 45693
* IRMNG: 10193900
* ITIS: 180326
* IUCN: 6568
* MDD: 1002130
* MSW: 13000195
* NCBI: 85952
* Observation.org: 83126
* Open Tree of Life: 603156
* Paleobiology Database: 45697

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