Duke of Bedford's vole facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Duke of Bedford's vole |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Arvicolinae |
| Tribe: | Microtini |
| Genus: | Proedromys Thomas, 1911 |
| Species: |
P. bedfordi
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| Binomial name | |
| Proedromys bedfordi Thomas, 1911
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| Synonyms | |
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The Duke of Bedford's vole (Proedromys bedfordi) is a small rodent that looks a bit like a mouse or a hamster. It belongs to the family Cricetidae, which includes many voles, lemmings, and hamsters. This special vole is the only member of its group, called the genus Proedromys.
You can only find the Duke of Bedford's vole in the mountains of central China. It is quite a rare animal. Because there are not many of them left, experts have listed it as a "vulnerable" animal. This means it needs our help to survive!
What Does the Duke of Bedford's Vole Look Like?
This small vole measures about 7.5 to 10 centimeters (3 to 4 inches) long, not including its tail. Its tail is quite short, only about 1.4 to 1.5 centimeters (about half an inch).
Its fur on its back is long and a dull, medium-brown color. Its belly is a lighter whitish-grey. The top of its front and back feet are whitish. Its tail has two colors: brown on top and whitish underneath.
This vole has strong teeth! Its front teeth (incisors) are wide and curved. They even have grooves on the outside. What's really cool is that its back teeth (molars) don't have roots and keep growing throughout its life. This helps them chew tough plant material.
Where Does This Vole Live?
The Duke of Bedford's vole is a very rare animal. Scientists have only found it in three places in China. Two of these spots are in southern Gansu Province and northern Sichuan Province. The third place is the Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve, where it was first found in 2003.
This vole loves to live in forests. It has been found high up in the mountains, at elevations between 2,440 and 2,550 meters (about 8,000 to 8,360 feet). That's pretty high!
Scientists have also found old bones of this vole. It seems like there were more of them long ago, during the Pleistocene Ice Age, than there are today.
Why Is This Vole Vulnerable?
We don't know a lot about the Duke of Bedford's vole. We don't know exactly how many there are, if their numbers are going up or down, or how much land they live on. Experts think they live in an area smaller than 20,000 square kilometers (about 7,700 square miles).
The biggest danger to this vole is that its mountain home is being destroyed. People are cutting down forests for wood or turning the land into farms. Because it lives in such a small area and its home is disappearing, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has decided that the Duke of Bedford's vole is a "vulnerable" animal. This means it is at high risk of becoming endangered if we don't protect its habitat.
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