NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Père David's Red-backed Vole
Eothenomys melanogaster (Milne-Edwards, 1871)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Père David's vole (Eothenomys melanogaster) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.
It is found in China, Myanmar, Taiwan, India, Vietnam, and Thailand. This species is a member of the melanogaster group, one of the two main groups of Eothenomys voles. Its dorsal pelage is dark brown, often nearly black, and the ventral pelage is gray, sometimes brown. The tail is shorter than the body. This species is found in pine/rhododendron forests.
Recent studies have split this species into three: E. melanogaster, E. colurnus, and E. eleusis. If recognized as distinct, E. colurnus would found in eastern China and Taiwan, E. eleusis would be in southern China and the bordering Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and India, and E. melanogaster sensu stricto would be restricted to mountains of the Sichuan Basin north of the Yangtze River in central China.
Wikipedia contributors, Père David's vole; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:48:52.298932+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Eothenomys melanogaster (Milne-Edwards, 1871)
- Name authority
- (Milne-Edwards, 1871)
- Common name
- Père David's Red-backed Vole
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Cricetidae
- Genus
- Eothenomys
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyCricetidae Fischer, 1817
- subfamilyArvicolinae Gray, 1821
- genusEothenomys Miller, 1896
- speciesEothenomys melanogaster (Milne-Edwards, 1871)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Eothenomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Kachin Red-backed VoleEothenomys cachinus (Thomas, 1921) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-eared Red-backed VoleEothenomys olitor (Thomas, 1911) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yunnan Red-backed VoleEothenomys miletus (Thomas, 1914) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yulongxuen Red-backed VoleEothenomys proditor Hinton, 1923 | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ward's Red-backed VoleEothenomys wardi (Thomas, 1912) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Eothenomys melanogaster libonotus Hinton, 1923 Hinton, 1923 | synonym |
| Microtus melanogaster eleusis Thomas, 1911 Thomas, 1911 | synonym |
| Microtus aurora G. M. Allen, 1912 G. M. Allen, 1912 | synonym |
| Microtus bonzo Cabrera, 1922 Cabrera, 1922 | synonym |
| Microtus mucronatus G. M. Allen, 1912 G. M. Allen, 1912 | synonym |
| Microtus melanogaster colurnus Thomas, 1911 Thomas, 1911 | synonym |
| Eothenomys kanoi Tokuda, 1937 Tokuda, 1937 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632842 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6FLN7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.