True lemmings
Temporal range: Pleistocene - Recent
Norway lemming (Lemmus lemmus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Arvicolinae
Tribe: Lemmini
Genus: Lemmus
Link, 1795
Type species
Lemmus lemmus
Species

L. amurensis
L. lemmus
L. nigripes
L. paulus
L. sibiricus
L. trimucronatus

Synonyms

Myodes[1]

The genus Lemmus contains several species of lemming sometimes referred to as the true lemmings. They are distributed throughout the Holarctic, particularly in the Palearctic.

Description

Head and body is 10-13.5 cm, and tail length is 18–26 mm. Weight ranges from 40-112 g. They are grey or brown. Unlike the collared lemmings, their coats do not change color in winter. They stay brown and grey.

Natural history

These lemmings are found predominantly in tundra or high elevations. Populations can fluctuate widely and mass migrations do take place. This mass migration is probably the source of the myth that lemmings commit mass suicide. These intense population booms appear to be most common in the northern part of its range (such as Lapland).

Gestation is 16–23 days. Litters are 1-13 (7 average). Young are sexually mature after 14 days. When conditions are favorable, these demographic parameters allow for a veritable explosion in population size.

Species

References

  1. ^ Krystufek, B. (2019). "Back to the future: the proper name for red-backed voles is Clethrionomys Tilesius and not Myodes Pallas". Mammalia. 84 (2). doi:10.1515/mammalia-2019-0067.
Categories