Dimensions of the Body and Molars in the Mole Vole (Ellobius talpinus, Rodentia, Cricetidae) Depending on the Age and Environmental Conditions

Abstract

We determined the body size and the size of molars (m/1) in mole voles (Ellobius talpinus Pallas 1770) collected in a laboratory colony (n = 35), in natural habitats (Orenburg oblast, n = 34; Chelyabinsk oblast, n = 42), and in two Holocene-dated horizons in Alekseevskaya Cave (n = 51; n = 66). It was found that the individual absolute age determined based on the molar root length (measured between the tooth neck and the end of the root) corresponds to the age intervals determined in labeled animals from natural habitats. The individual age of samples collected in Alekseevskaya Cave varied from several months to four years; the age group of one year was dominant, and animals younger than one year composed the second most abundant age group. The samples of the laboratory colony had the most pronounced morphological traits (greater height and length of the molar crown). We observed no significant differences in all the parameters studied between the animals collected in natural habitats and in the cave. Although there are no differences in the size parameters of the teeth, we cannot definitively conclude that the body size of mole voles in the Holocene was the same as that in recently collected samples, since the correlation of the body length and m/1 in animals from natural habitats and the laboratory colony was low.