The Bavarian pine vole (''Microtus bavaricus'') is a

vole Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a stouter body; a longer, hairy tail; a slightly rounder head; smaller eyes and ears; and differently formed molars (high-crowned with angular cusps instead of lo ...

from the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

of Europe. It lives in moist meadows at elevations of 600 to 1,000 meters.

During Ice Age

During the last Ice Age, it survived in three glacial refuges, including in the Northern Alps.

Conservation

There are 23 museum specimens of this species; it was previously known to live in only one location,

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; ) is an Northern Limestone Alps, Alpine mountain resort, ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district), district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ...

, which was altered by the construction of a hospital in the 1980s. No specimens of this

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

were recorded after 1962 and it was thought to be

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

. However, a population apparently belonging to this species was discovered in 2000 in Northern

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, just across the German-Austrian border. A 2010 study found that it was discovered in Slavonia, Croatia, rather than its original habitat of Austria or Germany. Although it was difficult to analyze the exact cause due to the limited population, it was assumed that the habitat had changed due to competition with other species. An Austrian scientist, Friederike Spitzenberger, stumbled upon the species in a live trap. Its species status was confirmed by genetic studies, and it was found to be very closely related to Liechtenstein's vole ('' Microtus liechtensteini'') from the Eastern Alps. Further research is required to determine the size and range of the population and the species has been re-assessed as

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. As of July 2024, the Alpenzoo Innsbruck begun a breeding program at their "Center of Species Survival" with the intention to release Bavarian pine voles back into the wild and further study the species: the program has experienced "groundbreaking success."

Genetic relationships with other subgenera

Genetic studies with other subgenera have shown that ''Microtus bavaricus'' does not have similar or closely related genetic sequence data compared to other subgenera. In particular, it formed a clear separate cluster from ''Microtus liechtensteini'' and did not appear to show a close relationship with ''Microtus tatricus''.

During Ice Age

Conservation

Genetic relationships with other subgenera

See also

References

Further reading