Microtus (Mynomes) oregoni Bachman 1839

Microtus (Mynomes) oregoni Bachman 1839, J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 8: 60.

Type Locality: USA, Oregon, Clatsop Co., Astoria.

Vernacular Names: Creeping Vole.

Synonyms: Microtus (Mynomes) adocetus Merriam 1908; Microtus (Mynomes) bairdii Merriam 1897; Microtus (Mynomes) cantwelli Taylor 1920; Microtus (Mynomes) morosus Elliot 1899; Microtus (Mynomes) serpens Merriam 1897 .

Distribution: Moist coniferous forest seres of Pacific Northwest, from SW British Columbia, Canada, south to NW California, USA.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Mynomes, sole member of oregoni species group (Zagorodnyuk, 1990). Type species of Chilotus, conventionally recognized as a subgenus of Microtus (see Anderson, 1959, 1960; Bailey, 1900), and occasionally including Old World M. socialis as a comember (Chaline, 1974; Ognev, 1964) or not (Anderson, 1959). Hooper and Hart (1962), however, found the morphological evidence insufficient to warrant subgeneric segregation of oregoni from North American species of Microtus, a viewpoint sustained by genetic distance comparisons (Moore and Janecek, 1990) and reflected in the classification of Zagorodnyuk (1990); sister species to M. longicaudus according to mitochondrial DNA sequence data (Conroy and Cook, 2000 a) or to the M. chrotorrhinus and M. pinetorum clade according to repetitive DNA fragments (Modi, 1996). Diploid number and sex-determining mechanism unique among North American Microtus studied (Ohno et al., 1963). See Carraway and Verts, 1985 (Mammalian Species, 233).