Richardson vole

9.8

A small animal like a mouse that lives in mountain meadows in western North America

noun
/ˈrɪtʃərdzən voʊl/

Specialized

: topo de Richardson

The Richardson vole thrives in high-altitude meadows across the Rocky Mountains.

Examples

Researchers studied the habitat preferences of the Richardson vole over several years.
A Richardson vole was spotted gathering grass near its burrow at dusk.
The Richardson vole is commonly found in grasslands.
Many researchers study the Richardson voles habitat.
A Richardson vole was spotted gathering grass near its burrow at dusk.
Researchers studied the habitat preferences of the Richardson vole over several years.
The Richardson vole thrives in high-altitude meadows across the Rocky Mountains.

Synonyms

Microtus richardsoni

vsRichardson vole

Specialized

9.9

A large mouse-like animal that lives in western North America, often called Richardson's vole

is the common name used in general speech rather than formal classification

Microtus

vsRichardson vole

Specialized

9.9

A group of small, mouse-like animals called voles that live in northern regions

is the single species limited to western North America rather than the broader genus

Surface Forms

Richardson vole singular

Richardson voles plural

Morphology

Richardson + vole

The phrase combines a proper name ('Richardson') with the noun 'vole', so a learner who knows 'vole' can infer this refers to a type or species of vole associated with the name Richardson. Knowing the identity of 'Richardson' is not required to understand it denotes a particular vole, and eponymous animal names follow a transparent, cross-linguistic pattern.

Etymology

Richardson vole probably takes its name from a person called Richardson who first collected or described the animal, and vole is the small, mouse-like rodent. So the name honors 'Richardson' and tells us this is that 'species of vole'.