Zaisan mole vole facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Zaisan mole vole |
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| In Kyzylasker, Kazakhstan | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Ellobius
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| Species: |
tancrei
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The Zaisan mole vole (Ellobius tancrei) is a small animal. It is also called the eastern mole vole. This creature is a type of rodent, like a mouse or a rat. It belongs to the family Cricetidae, which includes hamsters and voles. You can find the Zaisan mole vole living in central Asia.
Contents
Physical Features of the Zaisan Mole Vole
The Zaisan mole vole is very good at living underground. Its body is built for digging.
Size and Weight
From its head to its body, it grows to be about 95 to 131 mm (3.7 to 5.2 in) long. Its tail is short, only about 8 to 20 mm (0.3 to 0.8 in) long. This mole vole usually weighs between 30 and 88 grams (1.1 and 3.1 oz).
Fur and Appearance
Its fur is thick, soft, and feels like velvet. The face and the top of its head are dark brown. Its ears are very small, almost like a small bump of skin.
Special Teeth for Digging
The Zaisan mole vole has special front teeth called incisors. They are pure white, straight, and long. These teeth stick out in front of its nose. It uses them to dig through the soil.
Body Color and Markings
The color of its back can be sandy brown or dark grayish-brown. Its belly can be white or grayish-brown. The tail is sandy brown and has a small tuft of grayish-white hair at the end. Its hands and feet are wide with small claws. They are covered with white hairs.
Where Zaisan Mole Voles Live
The Zaisan mole vole lives in many parts of central Asia. You can find them in countries like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. They also live in southeastern Kazakhstan and northern Xinjiang in China. Their home range also includes parts of Mongolia and Tuva in Russia.
Preferred Homes
These animals like to live in open areas called steppes, deserts, and grasslands. They especially like moist valleys and areas near lakes and streams. This is because the soil there is deep and easy to dig in.
Zaisan Mole Vole Behavior
The Zaisan mole vole spends most of its life underground. It builds a large system of tunnels.
Underground Tunnels
Its tunnels are usually about 5 or 6 cm (2.0 or 2.4 in) wide. They are typically 10 to 40 cm (4 to 16 in) below the ground. Some deeper tunnels lead to special rooms. These rooms are used for storing food and for nesting.
How They Dig
Mole voles dig using their strong front teeth (incisors). They also push soil away with their heads. They are active all day and night while underground. However, they rarely come out to the surface during the day.
What They Eat
At night, they search for food over a large area. They mostly eat roots, bulbs, and tubers. These are all parts of plants that grow underground.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
Zaisan mole voles have babies between April and September. During this time, a female can have many litters.
Having Babies
They can have six or seven litters of babies. There is about 35 days between each litter. The mother carries her babies for 26 days before they are born. Each litter usually has three to seven young ones.
Growing Up
The baby mole voles stay in the nest until they stop drinking their mother's milk. This happens when they are about two months old. By the time they are three months old, they are old enough to have their own babies.
Conservation Status
The Zaisan mole vole lives in a very large area. There are also many of them in total. Experts have not found any major threats to this animal. Because of this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature says its conservation status is "least concern". This means they are not worried about this species becoming endangered.
See also
- Transcaucasian mole vole
- Tokudaia osimensis
- Tokudaia tokunoshimensis
