What is the maximal age a Southwestern water vole reaches?
An adult Southwestern water vole (Arvicola sapidus) usually gets as old as 3.5 years.
When born, they weight 10 grams (0.02 lbs) and measure 4 cm (0′ 2″). As a member of the Muridae family (genus: Arvicola), their offspring is 3 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 7.8 cm (0′ 4″).
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 southwestern water vole (Arvicola sapidus), also called southern water vole, is a large amphibious vole native to most of France and south-westwards through Spain and Portugal. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable. Although historically considered to be a member of the same species as the European water vole, Musser and Carleton (2005) considered it distinct enough to warrant full species status. It is threatened for many of the same reasons as the northern water vole, and a campaign is currently underway to seek protection for the species, both at a national level and at European Union level.It was traditionally one of the main ingredients in the Valencian dish called paella.
Animals of the same family as a Southwestern water vole
Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Muridae):
- Bush vlei rat with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Indian bush rat with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Mindanao lowland forest mouse bringing the scale to 31 grams
- Mountain water rat getting as big as 14.4 cm (0′ 6″)
- Greater stick-nest rat with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Dalton’s mouse with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Striped Atlantic Forest rat bringing the scale to 67 grams
- Edwards’s long-tailed giant rat with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Wood mouse becoming 4.33 years old
- Lesser bandicoot rat with 7 babies per pregnancy
Animals that reach the same age as Southwestern water vole
With an average age of 3.5 years, Southwestern water vole are in good companionship of the following animals:
- Common planigale usually reaching 4 years
- Japanese mole usually reaching 3.5 years
- African wading rat usually reaching 3 years
- Arctic lemming usually reaching 3.75 years
- Bower’s white-toothed rat usually reaching 2.83 years
- Aders’s duiker usually reaching 4 years
- Great gerbil usually reaching 4 years
- Acacia rat usually reaching 3.5 years
- Black myotis usually reaching 3.5 years
- Striped field mouse usually reaching 4 years
Animals with the same number of babies Southwestern water vole
The same number of babies at once (3) are born by:
- Northern grasshopper mouse
- Mongolian five-toed jerboa
- Mountain pygmy possum
- Palmer’s chipmunk
- Dusky caenolestid
- Bailey’s pocket mouse
- Mountain pocket gopher
- Djoongari
- Desert warthog
- Large vlei rat
Weighting as much as Southwestern water vole
A fully grown Southwestern water vole reaches around 220 grams (0.49 lbs). So do these animals:
- Samar squirrel with 225 grams
- Mottled tuco-tuco with 192 grams
- Lesser mole-rat with 189 grams
- Nectomys rattus with 248 grams
- Washington ground squirrel with 215 grams
- Dwarf scaly-tailed squirrel with 250 grams
- Orange-bellied Himalayan squirrel with 227 grams
- Tamaulipan woodrat with 198 grams
- Yucatan squirrel with 225 grams
- Large-eared pika with 205 grams