Muskeget vole
The beach vole or Muskeget vole (Microtus breweri ) is a rodent in the family Cricetidae endemic to Muskeget Island, Massachusetts. It is a close relative of the eastern meadow vole.
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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LignivoreFo
FossorialA fossorial animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, ...
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Island endemicIsland endemic animals are found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island. Animals or organisms that are indigenous to a place ar...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct ...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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PolygamyPolygamy is the practice of breeding with multiple partners. When a male breeds with more than one female at the same time – it is called polygyny....
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withM. breweri can only be found on Muskeget Island, off the west coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. However, throughout the history of Muskeget Island, it was also endemic to nearby South Point and Adams Islands, which are considered as a part of Muskeget Island in a rather broad point of view, but are no longer above sea level. The vole was extirpated from Muskeget proper by 1891 as a result of predation by stray cats, but was reintroduced by Gerrit S. Miller, Outram Bangs, and Chas F. Batchelder in 1893 from a colony captured on South Point Island.Moreover, Muskeget Island has moved about 1,000 feet eastwardly over the last about 200 years, along with its changing process of shape, size and position due to erosion and tidal buildup.
These voles dominate an open habitat of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans ) and beach grass (Ammophilia breviligulata ). Swaths of bare sand and saltwater marsh can be found on the island, but the voles tend to avoid these areas. They may burrow in loose sand or loose soil under or near any of their shelters. M. breweri feeds on beach grass stalks, leaves, seeds, and insect adults and larvae. Their predators include birds of prey such as the Short-eared Owl and the Northern Harrier. Cats were introduced onto Muskeget in the late 1800s, decimating the vole’s population, but are no longer present. Their home range is usually less than one acre.
The young beach voles are born in the burrow nests, underneath fragments of wreckage, or at the base of goldenrod (Solidago ). They do not demonstrate a typical vole breeding cycle, and show many of the attributes of a K-selected organism, such as large size, later age at maturation, sex ratio weighted towards the males, and low reproductive output. The adults can breed from the spring to the fall, and their gestation lasts for about one month. Every year, an individual female beach vole can produce up to several litters of three to five young offspring, but most will live for less than one year. The beach voles have a habit of building their runways above or underground through the beach grass. The runways may contain some cut grass. During winter, tunnels become more common due to the cold weather.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...