Microtus bavaricus
| Bavarian pine vole | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Genus: | Microtus |
| Subgenus: | Terricola |
| Species: | M. bavaricus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Microtus bavaricus (König, 1962) |
|
The Bavarian pine vole (Microtus bavaricus) is a vole from the Austrian, Italian, and Bavarian Alps of Europe. It lived in moist meadows at elevations of 600-1,000 metres. There are 23 museum specimens of this species.
This rodent was previously known from only one location in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, which has since been altered by the construction of a hospital in the 1980s. No specimens of this rodent were recorded after 1962 and it was thought to be extinct. However, a population apparently belonging to this species was discovered in 2000 in Northern Tyrol, just across the German-Austrian border. An Austrian scientist, Friederike Spitzenberger, stumbled upon the species in one of her "live traps". Its species status has been confirmed by genetic studies, and it is very closely related to Liechtenstein's vole (Microtus liechtensteini) from the Eastern Alps (Martínková et al., 2007). Further research is required to determine the size and range of the population and the species has been re-assessed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
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