How many baby Northern bog lemmings are in a litter?
A Northern bog lemming (Synaptomys borealis) usually gives birth to around 4 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 34 grams (0.07 lbs) and measure 11.2 cm (0′ 5″). They are a member of the Muridae family (genus: Synaptomys). An adult Northern bog lemming grows up to a size of 36.3 cm (1′ 3″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The northern bog lemming (Synaptomys borealis) is a small North American lemming. This is one of two species in genus Synaptomys, the other being the southern bog lemming.They have cylindrical bodies covered with long grey or brown fur with pale grey underparts. A patch of rust-coloured hair is seen at the base of the ears. They have small eyes, a hairy snout, and a short tail. They have 16 teeth and their upper incisors are grooved. They are 13 cm long with a 2-cm tail, and weigh about 30 g.These animals are found in wet northern forests, bogs, tundra, and meadows in Canada, Alaska, northern Washington, and New England. They feed on grasses, sedges, other green vegetation, and mosses, as well as snails and slugs. Their droppings are green. Predators include owls, hawks, mustelids, and snakes.Female lemmings have two or three litters of four to six young in a year. The young are born in a nest in a burrow or concealed in vegetation.They are active year-round, day and night. They make runways through the surface vegetation, and also dig burrows. They burrow under the snow in winter. These animals are often found in small colonies. Lemming populations go through a 3- or 4-year cycle of boom and bust.
Other animals of the family Muridae
Northern bog lemming is a member of the Muridae, as are these animals:
- Isarog striped shrew-rat weighting only 140 grams
- Smoky grass mouse weighting only 22 grams
- Broad-footed climbing mouse weighting only 57 grams
- Père David’s vole with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Lukolela swamp rat weighting only 42 grams
- Delicate mouse with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Least groove-toothed swamp rat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Allen’s woodrat with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Gleaning mouse weighting only 35 grams
- Ricefield rat with 9 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Northern bog lemming
Those animals also give birth to 4 babies at once:
- Bushveld gerbil
- Red-cheeked dunnart
- Eastern heather vole
- Woolly dormouse
- American mink
- Golden jackal
- Ethiopian white-footed mouse
- European mink
- Cerradomys subflavus
- Hairy-tailed bolo mouse
Animals with the same weight as a Northern bog lemming
What other animals weight around 21 grams (0.05 lbs)?
- Shrew-toothed shrew tenrec weighting 18 grams
- Halcyon horseshoe bat weighting 18 grams
- Grant’s golden mole weighting 22 grams
- Red tree vole weighting 22 grams
- African smoky mouse weighting 17 grams
- Malagasy slit-faced bat weighting 17 grams
- Sinaloan pocket mouse weighting 17 grams
- Bidentate yellow-shouldered bat weighting 18 grams
- Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat weighting 21 grams
- True’s vole weighting 22 grams