Class Mammalia
Order Rodentia
Family Cricetidae
Subfamily Arvicolinae
The Western Heather Vole in the Southwest is currently an inhabitant of a variety of habitats at or above timberline in the high northern mountains of New Mexico (Findley 1987). They share with Myodes gapperi possession of rooted teeth, unlike the other small arvicolines of our region; thus presence of small, fully prismatic cheekteeth with roots limits the identification to one of these two creatures.
The Sheep Camp Shelter record is at notably low elevation.
Sites.
Medial Irvingtonian: SAM Cave (Rogers et al. 2000: cf.).
Late Wisconsin: Marmot Cave (Thompson and Morgan 2001); Sheep Camp Shelter (Gillespie 1985).
Late Wisconsin/Holocene: SAM Cave (Rogers et al. 2000: cf.).
Literature. Findley 1987; Gillespie 1985; Rogers et al. 2000; Thompson and Morgan 2001.
Synonyms. Phenacomys primaevus.
As with Phenacomys and Myodes, Pliophenacomys has rooted teeth; unlike in Myodes, cement is absent (Kurtén and Anderson 1980).
Sites.
Late Blancan: 111 Ranch (Morgan and White 2005).
Literature. Kurtén and Anderson 1980; Morgan and White 2005.
Last Update: 8 Mar 2013