Microtus (Terricola) lusitanicus Gerbe 1879

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 : 1004

Microtus (Terricola) lusitanicus Gerbe 1879

Microtus (Terricola) lusitanicus Gerbe 1879 , Rev. Mag. Zool. Paris, ser. 3, 7: 44.

Type Locality: Portugal.

Vernacular Names: Lusitanian Pine Vole.

Synonyms: Microtus (Terricola) depressus (Miller 1908) ; Microtus (Terricola) gerritmilleri Kretzoi 1958 ; Microtus (Terricola) hurdanensis (Agacino 1938) ; Microtus (Terricola) mariae Major 1905 ; Microtus (Terricola) pelandonius (Miller 1908) .

Distribution: Portugal, N and C Spain (Brunet-Lecomte, 1991; Castien and Gosalbez, 1992), and SW France.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Terricola , duodecimcostatus species group (Chaline et al., 1988). Graf (1982) and Chaline and Graf (1988) apparently used mariae for this species, which reflected Winking’s (1976) opinion in separating the latter from M. duodecimcostatus ; Niethammer (1982 j) explained the priority of lusitanicus . Chromosomal data reviewed by Zima and Kral (1984 a). Morphometric analyses of variation within M. lusitanicus and multivariate contrasts with M. duodecimcostatus and-or M. gerbii conducted by Spitz (1978) and Mathias (1996). Brunet-Lecomte and Povoas (1993) successfully separated isolated molars of M. lusitanicus and M. duodecimcostatus using morphometric analyses of extant and Upper Palaeolithic-Neolithic samples in C Portugal. The fossorial M. lusitanicus is an adept swimmer ( Giannoni et al., 1993), like its fossorial relative M. duodecimcostatus ( Giannoni et al., 1994) , an ability facilitating dispersal in mountainous habitats dissected by numerous streams.