Microtus (Terricola) brachycercus Lehmann 1961

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 993

Microtus (Terricola) brachycercus Lehmann 1961

Microtus (Terricola) brachycercus Lehmann 1961 , Zool. Anz., 167: 223.

Type Locality: S Italy, Calabrian Peninsula, Camigliatello Silano.

Vernacular Names: Calabria Pine Vole.

Distribution: Calabrian Peninsula of S Italy ( Krapp, 1982 c; Galleni et al., 1998).

Discussion: Subgenus Terricola , savii species group (Chaline et al., 1988; Zagorodnyuk, 1990). Initially described as a subspecies of M. savii ( Lehmann, 1961) and usually retained in that species ( Corbet, 1978 c; Krapp, 1982 c; Krapp and Winking, 1976; Mitchell-Jones et al., 1999; Pavlinov et al., 1995 a). Karyotype of samples from Calabrian region is similar to those from elsewhere on the Italian Peninsula and Sicily (2n = 54), but the X chromosome is larger and submetacentric (small metacentric in M. savii ) and the Y is twice the size ( Galleni et al., 1992, 1998; Niethammer, 1981). F1 hybrids obtained between savii and brachycercus , but F2 offspring were not produced because F 1 males are sterile; those data, the gonosomal differences, and morphological traits ( Lehmann, 1961) prompted Galleni et al. (1994, 1998) to recognize brachycercus as a species endemic to the Calabrian Peninsula of S Italy.