Steppe lemming | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Cricetidae |
Subfamily: | Arvicolinae |
Genus: | Lagurus |
Species: | L. lagurus
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Binomial name | |
Lagurus lagurus (Pallas, 1773)
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The steppe lemming or steppe vole (Lagurus lagurus) is a small, plump, light-grey rodent, similar in appearance to the Norway lemming (Lemmus lemmus), but not in the same genus. The steppe lemming eats shoots and leaves and is more active at night, though it is not strictly nocturnal. In the wild, it is found in steppes and semiarid environments in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, northwestern China, and western Mongolia. Fossil remains of this species have been found in areas as far west as Great Britain.[1]