Prairie Vole

Suborder

The American Society of Mammalogists Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) currently places the species within the Suborder Supramyomorpha. This designation reflects the acceptance of recent large-scale molecular phylogenetic studies that reorganized the Rodentia into three major clades. The necessity for the new suborder arose because genetic analysis showed that the classical Suborder Myomorpha, which housed the mouselike rodents, was paraphyletic—it included the common ancestor but excluded certain descendant groups (like beavers and pocket gophers). Supramyomorpha is the larger, monophyletic group that includes the traditional Myomorpha and all of its descendants. The classification system recognizing Suborder Supramyomorpha was adopted in the paper Flynn et al. (2019), with the name formally proposed by D'Elía et al. (2019). We acknowledge that many regional checklists and traditional resources continue to use the more classical and recognizable Suborder Myomorpha.

Tribe

The genus Microtus was formerly included with Arvicola in the broadly defined tribe Arvicolini based on morphological similarity. Recent molecular genetic analysis (Golenishchev and Malikov, 2006) showed that the two genera are not “sister taxa.” In 2006, Microtus was moved to the new tribe Microtini, which now contains seven other genera, all sharing the derived trait of rootless, ever growing molars and crown cement. This site, however, adheres to the current classification of the American Society of Mammalogists Mammal Diversity Database, which retains Microtus within the tribe Arvicolini.

Subgenus

The subgenus placement for Microtus ochrogaster (Prairie Vole) is disputed among current taxonomic lists. This species was traditionally placed in the subgenus Pedomys based on unique molar features. However, recent molecular phylogenetic studies have often suggested a closer relationship with species placed in the subgenus Pitymys. The American Society of Mammalogists Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) currently places Microtus ochrogaster in the subgenus Mynomes, aligning it with the subgenus designation used for the Microtus pennsylvanicus complex prior to its recent split, and pending broader consensus on the reorganization of the entire genus Microtus.

This site adheres to the current classification of the American Society of Mammalogists Mammal Diversity Database, which places Microtus ochrogaster in the subgenus Mynomes, retains Microtus within the tribe Arvicolini, and places the infraorder Myomorphi in the Suborder Supramyomorpha.

Some sources, including NatureServe and iNaturalist, recognize two subspecies, one of which is presumed extinct, one restricted ot Texas. Mammal Species of the World and GBIF recognize no subspecies.