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Woodland vole (Microtus pinetorum)
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The order Rodentia (rodents) consists of over 30 families (among several suborders and superfamily) and 2,277 currently recognized species worldwide, making it the largest order of living mammalia (42% of all mammal species; Wilson and Reeder 2005). North America has 226 species with 22 species (families Castoridae, Muridae, Myocastoridae, and Sciuridae) found in Mississippi. Several key characters are used to define (and in most cases distinguish) Rodentia. Major characters include a single pair of upper and lower incisors, a diastema (gap between the incisors and cheekteeth), and reduction in number of teeth from primitive eutherian number (3/3 incisors, 1/1 canines, 4/4 premolars, 3/3 molars = 44 teeth) (Feldhamer et. al. 2007).
The family Cricetidae encompasses 140 genera and almost 700 species, all of which represent the New World rats and mice. Cricetids are sciurognathous (the mandible inserts directly ventral to the molariform teeth) and myomorphous (deep portion of masseter muscle passes through the infraorbital foramen). They display a variety of feeding behaviors, reproductive strategies, and habitat preferences. For example, while most are terrestrial, some cricetids are fossorial, semi-arboreal, arboreal, semi-aquatic, or aquatic (Feldhamer et al. 2007).
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