Lagurus is a genus in the subfamily Arvicolinae (voles, lemmings, and related species). Lagurus includes a single living species, the steppe lemming (Lagurus lagurus) of central Eurasia.[1] The North American sagebrush vole (Lemmiscus curtatus) has also been included in Lagurus, but is likely not closely related.[2] The earliest fossils of Lagurus, allocated to Lagurus arankae, appear in the Late Pliocene. Two other fossil species, Lagurus pannonicus and Lagurus transiens, are thought to be part of a lineage that led to the living steppe lemming.[3]
^Chaline et al., 1999, pp. 251–252; McKenna and Bell, 1997, p. 153
Literature cited
Chaline, J., Brunet-Lecomte, P., Montuire, S., Viriot, L. and Courant, F. 1999. Anatomy of the arvicoline radiation (Rodentia): palaeogeographical, palaeoecological history and evolutionary data. Annales Zoologici Fennici 36:239–267.
McKenna, M.C. and Bell, S.K. 1997. Classification of Mammals: Above the species level. New York: Columbia University Press, 631 pp. ISBN 978-0-231-11013-6
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