Correct scientific/latin name??

[Alex90]

Hi

Was hoping someone could enlighten me as to what the correct scientific name is for Bank Voles? previously it has been refered to as Myodes glareolus, however more recently it seems to be that it is called Clethrionomys glareolus.

Anyone know the details of the confusion? is one an old name and it has been changed?

please don't answer if you have just had a quick look on google for a name as there are loads of sources for both names... yet no clear source that i have found that suggests which is the current and correct name.

Alex

[diggleken]

Hi Alex,
dont know the full answer, but both Maurice Burton and Van den Brink use Clethrionomys glareolus in their works of the early/mid 1960's.
its current as far as Collins' british wildlife is concerned.
So its been around a fair while in that format!
Dont know about the other one though.
Cheers
Ken

[Dogghound]

Myodes is the correct term I believe with Clethrionomys the older outdated genus.

[diggleken]

thats a shame, I'd just mastered Clethrionomys.
Must have changed then post 1995, when my Collins was last edited.
Cheers
Ken

[Dogghound]

They just do it to confuse us Ken, im sure of it.

[davecatt]

Hi Alex
Found this, check the link

Species Myodes glareolus (Bank vole) (Clethrionomys glareolus)

Myodes glareolus (Bank vole) (Clethrionomys glareolus)

Clear as mud
Dave

[valleyforge]

Just for added confirmation, the Mammal Society's publication 'Mammals of the British Isles: Handbook, 4th Edition' (2008) has the Bank Vole listed as Myodes glareolus.

If you are planning to update your library with anything on British mammals, then this is surely the definitive reference work ... though a bit too unwieldly to be a field guide.

[Alex90]

Thanks for the responses, i did a little more digging too and it appears that both Myodes and Clethrionomys are accepted names.

that link was great help Dave, think i have been on that website before when searching for other names too.

Thanks

Alex

[ChrisR]

Species can move genera when someone revises them but strictly speaking I would go by the names that have been accepted in databases like Encyclopedia of Life or Fauna Europaea - both of which list the species under Clethrionomys - anything else might just prove to be a revision too far that hasn't been generally accepted.

Fauna Europaea : Taxon Details
Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber, 1780) - Encyclopedia of Life

[Tormentil]

I'm struggling with the tax on me, imposed by the Chancellor, never mind all this other stuff.