Neodon irene

The body length is generally less than 100mm, and the tail length is about 30% of the body length. The back of the body is gray, and some old bodies have a brown tint on the back. There is no obvious boundary between the ventral and dorsal fur colors, and the ventral fur color is slightly lighter. The ears are visible outside the fur. The first lower molar has three closed triangles, and the third upper molar has only three angular processes on the inner and outer sides. It is the smallest individual in the genus Pine Vole and is also the most widely distributed species.

It is endemic to China. It is only distributed in northwest Sichuan and most of Qinghai. It is distributed marginally in Gansu, Tibet and Yunnan.

It lives in mountain shrub meadows, grassland meadows and forest edge grass slopes, etc., at an altitude of about 2000-4000m.

Plateau pine voles belong to the subfamily Arvicolinae. The classification status is stable, and it previously included two subspecies: the nominate subspecies (<N. irene irene>) and the Yunnan subspecies (<N. irene forresti>). In-depth research has found that the Yunnan subspecies of pine voles is an independent species.

This species is difficult to identify based on its appearance. However, this species is only distributed in high-altitude shrub areas, generally above 3000m. The population is large in loose soil and fertile sandy shrubs. There are few other species in these areas. In addition, most of the individuals with small size, short tail, gray or gray-brown fur are this species. There is a certain damage to vegetation.

This species has been included in the "List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Economic and Scientific Research Value Protected by the State" issued by the State Forestry Administration of China on August 1, 2000.

Listed in the 2013 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ver3.1—Near Threatened (NT).