This vole of the Mesoamerican highlands lives at some of the highest elevations occupied by any rodent of its genus in the region, in mountain meadows above the closed forest line. Like other voles, it digs a network of shallow burrows and surface runways beneath dense grass, which serve both for moving about and for protection from aerial predators such as hawks and owls. It lives split into isolated populations across the various volcanic peaks and high mountains of Guatemala and neighbouring parts of Chiapas, each separated from the next by lower-altitude valleys that act as a barrier to an animal so reluctant to move across open ground. Its name refers to Guatemala, the country where it was first recorded, although its true range also extends into the mountains on the Mexican side of the border.
A small, compact rodent with a cylindrical body, short tail, small ears barely visible in the fur, and dark brown to greyish pelage. The Guatemalan Vole is distinguished from other voles in the Central American region mainly by its distribution at the highest elevations of the mountains of Guatemala and Chiapas, and by cranial details that often require direct examination for reliable separation from sibling species.
Tiny track, barely 1-1.5 cm, showing 4 front toes and 5 hind toes, rarely visible except in fine mud along its surface runways. Small, cylindrical droppings 4-6 mm long are left in small piles along the surface runways it cuts beneath dense grass. These surface runways, 3-4 cm wide and visible as flattened tunnels through the vegetation when parted, are the most reliable sign of its presence, alongside small burrows with hidden entrances among the roots of the mountain meadow.
High mountain meadow and open coniferous forest above the closed forest line, generally between 2500 and 4000 m altitude. Distributed in isolated populations across the high mountains of Guatemala and neighbouring areas of Chiapas in southern Mexico.
Herbivorous, feeding on grasses, tender stems and roots in the high mountain meadows where it lives.
Digs a network of burrows and surface runways beneath dense grass. It shows territorial behaviour, with activity spread over short periods throughout the day and night. Its populations are isolated from one another by the lower-altitude valleys separating the various mountains it occupies.
Its populations are generally considered stable within the high-mountain protected areas where it lives, though declining locally through habitat degradation of mountain meadows in areas outside protection.
Degradation of high mountain meadows caused by livestock overgrazing in some areas, and the intrinsic isolation between different mountain populations, which limits genetic exchange between them.
See all species accounts for rodents · Full species index
Mammaling is a free app for logging the mammals you find. You record a sighting in a moment — even if it's just a track — your life list grows, and the record becomes available to scientific and conservation projects.
It runs on your phone with nothing to install. If you like, it adds to your home screen like any other app.
Open Mammaling