Bog lemming

Bog lemmings
Temporal range: Early Pliocene - recent
Southern bog lemming
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Arvicolinae
Tribe: Lemmini
Genus: Synaptomys
Baird, 1857
Type species
Synaptomys cooperi
Species

Synaptomys borealis
Synaptomys cooperi
†Synaptomys australis

Synaptomys is a genus of North American lemmings. These animals live in wet forested and open areas. They are small, cylindrical rodents with large heads and short ears, legs, and tails. They eat green vegetation such as grasses and sedges. They are often found in colonies.

Systematics

The genus Synaptomys comprises two extant species and 10 extinct species. S. borealis is sometimes placed in the genus Mictomys.

Extant species

Extinct species

  • Florida bog lemming (S. australis Simpson 1928)[4]
  • Bunker's bog lemming (S. bunkeri Hibbard 1939)[3][4]
  • Morgan's bog lemming (S. morgani Martin et al. 2003)[3]

A number of other fossil species have been included here but have since been transferred to other genera, such as Mictomys[5] and Praesynaptomys.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Synaptomys borealis - Northern Bog Lemming". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Synaptomys cooperi - Southern Bog Lemming". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Synaptomys". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  4. ^ a b Kurtén, Björn; Elaine Anderson (1980). Pleistocene Mammals of North America. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 268–269. ISBN 0-231-03733-3. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  5. ^ "Mictomys". Fossilworks.
  6. ^ "Praesynaptomys". Fossilworks.

Further reading