''Mimomys'' is an extinct genus of voles that lived in

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

and North America during the

Plio-Pleistocene The Plio-Pleistocene is an informally described geological pseudo-period, which begins about 5 million years ago (Mya) and, drawing forward, combines the time ranges of the formally defined Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs—marking from about 5& ...

. It is believed that one of the many species belonging to this genus gave rise to the modern

water voles The European water vole or northern water vole (''Arvicola amphibius''), is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brow ...

''(Arvicola)''. Several other prehistoric genera of vole are probably synonymous with ''Mimomys'', including the North American ''Cosomys'' and ''Ophiomys''. Several species are known to have survived into the

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of the Pleistocene Epoch within ...

, including ''M. pyrenaicus'' of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and ''M. chandolensis'' of the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

, which may have survived as recently as 50,000 BP.

References

Prehistoric mammals of Europe Prehistoric mammals of Asia Prehistoric mammals of North America Pliocene mammals of Europe Pliocene mammals of Asia Pliocene mammals of North America Pleistocene mammals of Europe Pleistocene mammals of Asia Pleistocene mammals of North America Pliocene rodents Pleistocene rodents Prehistoric rodents Pleistocene extinctions Arvicolini {{paleo-rodent-stub