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Northern Bog Lemming
Synaptoms Borealis
by Abshir
Classification
Kingdom; Animal
Phylum; Chordate
Class; Mammal
Odder; Rodent
Family; Circuited
Genus; Synaptoms
Species; Borealis
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Physical Description
The Northern Bog Lemming looks some
what like a vole. It's covered with long gray and brown fur with pale
gray under parts. There is a patch of rust-colored hair at the base of
the ears. They have small eyes, a hairy snout and a short tail. They have
16 teeth and their upper incisors are grooved. They are 13 cm long with
a 2 cm tail and weigh about 30 g.
Diet and Feeding Habits
The northern bog Lemming most of
their diet is grasses, sedges and other plants, but they also eat slugs
and other invertebrates.
Reproduction
They breed from May to August. The
litter size varies from 2 to 8 young coverage and a female may produce 2
to 3 litters per year or 4 to 6 young. They are on their own after they
are weaned.
Habitat
The Northern Bog Lemming lives in wet
meadows, sphagnum bogs and forest with mossy herbivores under story.
The northern Bog Lemming creates runways and path through the vegetation
and uses burrows which ground squirrels have dug.
Role in the Ecosystem
Small mammals like the northern
bog lemming fulfill numerous important roles in forest ecosystem by sporting
a wide range of predators seeds and altering vegetation through
herbivore and seed perdition and preying on insects .
Bibliography http/www.fs.fed.us/ipnf
http//imnh.isu.edu/digitalatas/bio/mammal/rod/mice/nble.htm
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