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AnAge entry for Arvicola terrestris

Classification (HAGRID: 03278)
TaxonomyKingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Rodentia
                Family: Muridae
                    Genus: Arvicola
SpeciesArvicola terrestris
Common nameEuropean water vole

Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits

Maximum longevity2.5 years (captivity)
Sourceref. 671
Sample sizetiny
Data qualityacceptable
Observations

These animals live on average less than 6 months in the wild. It has been reported that they live up to 5 years in captivity [0434], which is doubtful even if not impossible. Record longevity in captivity is 2.5 years [0671].

Life history traits (averages)

Female sexual maturity51 days
Male sexual maturity45 days
Gestation21 days
Weaning14 days
Litter size5.1 (viviparous)
Litters per year3.2
Inter-litter interval32 days
Weight at birth5 g
Weight at weaning42 g
Adult weight120 g
Postnatal growth rate0.0573 days-1 (from Gompertz function)
Maximum longevity residual24 %

Metabolism

Typical body temperature311ºK or 37.5ºC or 99.5ºF
Basal metabolic rate0.6130 W
Body mass94.7 g
Metabolic rate per body mass0.006473 W/g

References
[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0036] Savage et al. (2004), The predominance of quarter-power scaling in biology
[0420] White and Seymour (2003), Mammalian basal metabolic rate is proportional to body mass2/3, PubMed
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0731] Zullinger et al. (1984), Fitting sigmoid equations to mammalian growth curves

External resources

Integrated Taxonomic Information SystemITIS 632819
Animal Diversity WebADW account (if available)
Encyclopedia of LifeSearch EOL
Genome ProjectSearch NCBI
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