''Synaptomys australis'', the Florida bog lemming, is an extinct species of

bog lemming ''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. ...

that occurred in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

during the

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

Taxonomy

Although the bog lemmings are not indigenous to Florida at the present time, remains are known there from the Pleistocene, indicating the range of these normally cold-adapted rodents extended further south during glaciation events. The Florida bog lemming was described from a lower jaw collected from Pleistocene deposits in 1928. Its taxonomic status as a full species has been questioned however, with some researchers considering it a prehistoric race of the

southern bog lemming The southern bog lemming (''Synaptomys cooperi'') is a small North American lemming. Its range overlaps with the other species in genus ''Synaptomys'', the northern bog lemming, in southeastern Canada Canada is a country in North Amer ...

Description

The Florida bog lemming was slightly larger than the living southern bog lemming. It went extinct around 12,000 BP, as a result of glacial retreat and the return of very warm temperatures.

References

Prehistoric rodents Pleistocene rodents Prehistoric mammals of North America Pleistocene mammals of North America Synaptomys {{Paleo-rodent-stub