Arvicola

Water voles are large voles in the genus Arvicola. They are found in both aquatic and dry habitat through Europe and much of northern Asia. A water vole found in Western North America was historically considered a member of this genus, but has been shown to be more closely related to members of the genus Microtus. Head and body lengths are 12–22 cm (4.7–8.7 in), tail lengths are 6.5–12.5 cm (2.6–4.9 in), and their weights are 70–250 g (2.5–8.8 oz). The animals may exhibit indeterminate growth. They are thick-furred and have hairy fringes on their feet that improve their swimming ability.

Arvicola

Rabensteiner · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ArvicoliniPBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB, for Rodentia
Life habit
amphibiousPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 3.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 114 occurrencesPliocene — about 1 of 114 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 108 of 114 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 5 of 114 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 21 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 21 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 21 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 31 occurrences3.6 Mya11.7 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

114 occurrences of Arvicola on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

114 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

5 formations

Cromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°ECromer Forest Bed — 51.64°N, 0.80°EWroxham — 52.63°N, 1.30°ELatamne — 35.13°N, 36.75°EYuanmou — 24.87°N, 100.94°EUrk — 53.20°N, 5.98°E

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The named rock units Arvicola has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 104 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Arvicola and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Arvicola and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

733 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 106 sites for Arvicola, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

50 references

Each of the 114 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 38 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Arvicola

Credit
Rabensteiner
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Arvicola amphibius scherman · UMMZ:mammals:138456

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itArvicolini through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Lacépède 1799