It is hard to guess what a European water vole weights. But we have the answer:
An adult European water vole (Arvicola terrestris) on average weights 120 grams (0.26 lbs).
The European water vole is from the family Muridae (genus: Arvicola). It is usually born with about 5 grams (0.01 lbs). They can live for up to 5 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 19.3 cm (0′ 8″). On average, European water voles can have babies 3 times per year with a litter size of 4.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The European water vole or northern water vole (Arvicola amphibius, included in synonymy: A. terrestris), is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats their tails, paws and ears are covered with hair.In the wild, on average, water voles only live about five months. Maximum longevity in captivity is two and a half years.
Animals of the same family as a European water vole
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Zygodontomys brunneus with a weight of 75 grams
- Bunchgrass leaf-eared mouse with a weight of 43 grams
- JunÃn grass mouse with a weight of 39 grams
- Roraima mouse with a weight of 33 grams
- Gray-bellied tree mouse with a weight of 41 grams
- Olive grass mouse with a weight of 19 grams
- Guinean gerbil with a weight of 103 grams
- Scolomys melanops with a weight of 26 grams
- Edward’s swamp rat with a weight of 63 grams
- Shaw’s jird with a weight of 90 grams
Animals with the same weight as a European water vole
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Arvicola terrestris:
- Congo rope squirrel bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Tate’s woolly mouse opossum bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Ruwenzori otter shrew bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Spotted ground squirrel bringing 107 grams to the scale
- White-tailed antelope squirrel bringing 104 grams to the scale
- Northern palm squirrel bringing 102 grams to the scale
- Sulawesi harpy fruit bat bringing 116 grams to the scale
- Damaraland mole-rat bringing 112 grams to the scale
- Dian’s tarsier bringing 111 grams to the scale
- Talas tuco-tuco bringing 141 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a European water vole
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as European water vole:
- Ear-spot squirrel with a size of 20.3 cm (0′ 8″)
- Long-tailed weasel with a size of 23 cm (0′ 10″)
- Woolly mouse opossum with a size of 16.8 cm (0′ 7″)
- Green bush squirrel with a size of 19.1 cm (0′ 8″)
- Richardson’s ground squirrel with a size of 21.1 cm (0′ 9″)
- Desert hedgehog with a size of 18.1 cm (0′ 8″)
- Nectomys squamipes with a size of 18.2 cm (0′ 8″)
- Gregarious short-tailed rat with a size of 16.2 cm (0′ 7″)
- Lorentz’s mosaic-tailed rat with a size of 16.6 cm (0′ 7″)
- Nelson’s spiny pocket mouse with a size of 15.8 cm (0′ 7″)
Animals with the same litter size as a European water vole
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (4) as a European water vole:
- Large New Guinea spiny rat
- Indian desert jird
- Zagros Mountains mouse-like hamster
- Groundhog
- Field vole
- Dice’s cottontail
- California pocket mouse
- Blanford’s jerboa
- Bushveld gerbil
- Gerbil mouse
Animals with the same life expectancy as a European water vole
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a European water vole:
- Lesser mole-rat with an average maximal age of 4.5 years
- White-bellied duiker with an average maximal age of 5.25 years
- Virginia opossum with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Talazac’s shrew tenrec with an average maximal age of 5.83 years
- Spectacled hare-wallaby with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Cairo spiny mouse with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Aders’s duiker with an average maximal age of 4 years
- Scaly-tailed possum with an average maximal age of 6 years
- Silky pocket mouse with an average maximal age of 5 years
- Yellow-necked mouse with an average maximal age of 4 years