On some “forgotten” samples of small mammals from the Western Tatra Mts – Roháče Mts (Slovakia) (Insectivora, Rodentia, Carnivora)

Pages

111-121

Citation

GAISLER, Jiří a ZEJDA, Jan. On some “forgotten” samples of small mammals from the Western Tatra Mts – Roháče Mts (Slovakia) (Insectivora, Rodentia, Carnivora). Lynx, new series. Prague: National Museum, 2006, 37(1), 111-121. ISSN 0024-7774 (print), 1804-6460 (online). Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/lns/37-1/on-some-forgotten-samples-of-small-mammals-from-the-western-tatra-mts-rohace-mts-slovakia-insectivora-rodentia-carnivora

Lynx, new series | 2006/37/1

In 1964 to 1974, 511 specimens of 14 mammal species were collected in the Roháče Mts, northern Slovakia, mostly at elevations of 1,000–2,000 m. The following mammalian families and species are represented in the samples, viz, Soricidae: Sorex araneus, S. alpinus, S. minutus, Neomys fodiens; Talpidae: Talpa europaea; Arvicolidae: Clethrionomys glareolus, Chionomys nivalis, Microtus subterraneus, M. tatricus, M. agrestis; Muridae: Apodemus flavicollis; Gliridae: Muscardinus avellanarius, Dryomys nitedula; Mustelidae: Mustela nivalis. In addition, Eliomys quercinus was observed on 22 May 1964 in the valley Spálená dolina, 1,520 m a. s. l. Besides its description, an exact drawing of the animal supports the record. Details are given on the sample of 170 specimens obtained in September 1964 by 4,730 trap-nights at elevations of 1,500–2,100 m. Mammals were trapped at the forest upper edge (ecotone) and at higher situated habitats up to the mountain ridge. Alpine vole species, M. tatricus and C. nivalis, clearly dominate this sample (Table 1). Additional eight samples were obtained mostly within the forest zone and their species diversity and numbers of records per species corroborate previous data on the development of small mammal communities with respect to the ecosystem succession (Kratochvíl & Gaisler 1967). Cranial measurements were recorded of all adult and grown-up individuals of M. tatricus and C. nivalis trapped in 1964–1974 in the Roháče Mts and available as museum specimens with undamaged skulls. The data are given in Tabs. 2 and 3, together with external measurements and body weights of the same animals as recorded in the field. Although certain biometrics of the specimens may have been included in earlier statistical evaluations (Kratochvíl 1970, 1981), individual measurements of particular specimens have never been published. The purpose of their presentation in this paper is to submit data on rare and not readily obtainable material for future examination.

Gaisler2006lynx2.pdf