The genus Microtus is a group of voles found in North America and northern Europe and Asia. The genus name refers to the small ears of these animals.
These animals live in grassy areas. They are stout rodents with short ears, legs and tails. They eat green vegetation such as grasses and sedges in summer and grains, seeds, roots and bark at other times.
Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894-1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
