Alticola (Alticola) roylei (Gray 1842)

[Alticola (Alticola)] roylei (Gray 1842), Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 1, 10: 265.

Type Locality: India, Kumaon.

Vernacular Names: Royle's Mountain Vole.

Synonyms: Alticola (Alticola) cautus Hinton 1926 .

Distribution: W Himalayas, 2600-3900 m, from Kulu Valley in Himachal Pradesh to N Kumaon in Uttar Pradesh, N India (Agrawal, 2000).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Subgenus Alticola . Once considered the broadest-ranging species of Alticola in central Asia, encompassing A. argentatus and many of its synonyms (Corbet, 1978 c; Ellerman, 1961; Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951). With removal of the latter (Rossolimo, 1989; Rossolimo and Pavlinov, 1992), the geographic and morphological definition of A. roylei conforms to that presented by Hinton (1926 a) and Ellerman (1941).