What is the maximal age a European water vole reaches?
An adult European water vole (Arvicola terrestris) usually gets as old as 5 years.
European water voles are around 21 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 5 grams (0.01 lbs) and measure 4 cm (0′ 2″). As a member of the Muridae family (genus: Arvicola), a European water vole caries out around 4 little ones per pregnancy, which happens around 3 times a year. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 19.3 cm (0′ 8″).
As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.
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
Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Muridae):
- Japanese grass vole with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Flat-haired mouse with 6 babies per pregnancy
- Lesser stick-nest rat bringing the scale to 150 grams
- Abrothrix lanosus bringing the scale to 27 grams
- Savanna gerbil with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Angoni vlei rat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Hispid cotton rat becoming 5.17 years old
- Great Balkhan mouse-like hamster with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Southern climbing mouse bringing the scale to 89 grams
- Oecomys trinitatis bringing the scale to 73 grams
Animals that reach the same age as European water vole
With an average age of 5 years, European water vole are in good companionship of the following animals:
- Guyenne spiny rat usually reaching 4.75 years
- Forest giant squirrel usually reaching 5.08 years
- Rufous elephant shrew usually reaching 6 years
- Gray short-tailed opossum usually reaching 6 years
- Otter civet usually reaching 5 years
- Scaly-tailed possum usually reaching 6 years
- Mountain pocket gopher usually reaching 5 years
- Prevost’s squirrel usually reaching 5.67 years
- Central African oyan usually reaching 5.33 years
- Uinta ground squirrel usually reaching 5 years
Animals with the same number of babies European water vole
The same number of babies at once (4) are born by:
- Sierra Madre ground squirrel
- Ethiopian white-footed mouse
- Spermophilus relictus
- Red fox
- Creek groove-toothed swamp rat
- European hedgehog
- Tien Shan red-backed vole
- Hodgson’s brown-toothed shrew
- Sonoma chipmunk
- Fawn-colored mouse
Weighting as much as European water vole
A fully grown European water vole reaches around 120 grams (0.26 lbs). So do these animals:
- Golden hamster with 98 grams
- Woolly-headed spiny tree-rat with 108 grams
- Guianan spear-nosed bat with 134 grams
- Bush vlei rat with 103 grams
- Perote ground squirrel with 140 grams
- Buller’s chipmunk with 100 grams
- Masked flying fox with 130 grams
- Giant roundleaf bat with 115 grams
- Talas tuco-tuco with 141 grams
- Broad-toothed mouse with 125 grams
Animals as big as a European water vole
Those animals grow as big as a European water vole:
- Malayan field rat with 19 cm (0′ 8″)
- Northeast African mole-rat with 19.7 cm (0′ 8″)
- Small sun squirrel with 19 cm (0′ 8″)
- Mindanao hairy-tailed rat with 17.5 cm (0′ 7″)
- American pika with 19 cm (0′ 8″)
- Ethiopian dwarf mongoose with 23 cm (0′ 10″)
- Michoacan pocket gopher with 22.5 cm (0′ 9″)
- White-throated woodrat with 17.6 cm (0′ 7″)
- Egyptian fruit bat with 16.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Ceram fruit bat with 20.2 cm (0′ 8″)