Meadow Vole Skull Replica

Description

Meadow vole skull replica measures 1.0 x 0.5 x 0. inches. The Microtus pennsylvanicus skull is a museum-quality polyurethane resin cast from California Academy of Sciences specimen. 2-part skull (separate cranium and mandible). 1:1 scale. Made in USA.

The meadow vole, sometimes called the field mouse meadow mouse, is a North American vole found in eastern Canada and the United States. Its range extends farther south along the Atlantic coast.

The meadow vole is active year-round, usually at night. It also digs burrows. The vole stores food for the winter in these burrows, and females give birth to their young there.

Although these rodents tend to live close together, they are aggressive towards one another. This behavior appears evident in males during the breeding season. They cause damage to fruit trees, garden plants, and commercial grain crops.

Most changes in activity depend on season, habitat, cover, temperature, and other factors. Meadow voles must eat frequently. Their active periods occur every two to three hours. These timelines connect directly with food digestion.

They eat most available species of grasses, sedges, and forbs. This list includes many agricultural plant species. In summer and fall, they cut grasses into match-length sections. This technique helps them reach the succulent portions of the leaves and seed heads.

Leaves, flowers, and fruits of forbs also form components of the summer diet. Studies report fungi, primarily endogones, in meadow vole diets.

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Rodentia
• Family: Cricetidae
• Subfamily: Arvicolinae
• Genus: Microtus
• Subgenus: Mynomes
• Species: M. pennsylvanicus
• Binomial name: Microtus pennsylvanicus
• Conservation status: Least concern

Displaying the Eastern deer mouse skull replica, the muskrat male skull replica, and the maned rat skull replica placed beside the tiny meadow vole highlight an extraordinary range of rodent sizes.