Monograph of the Voles and Lemmings (Microtinœ), Living and Extinct

Abstract

THERE is no group of mammals so likely to throw light on the manner in which new species arise as the Microtinae, a subfamily of rodents represented by voles and lemmings, and there is certainly no one so well qualified as Mr. Martin A. C. Hinton, of the Zoological Department of the British Museum (Natural History), to bring together and to systematise all that is known concerning the distribution in space and time, the structure and habit, of this highly specialised group. It may be said at once that Mr. Hinton is producing a monograph—for the volume noted here is only the first part—of the very highest order, one which will serve the needs of systematic zoologists for many years to come. In the present volume 14 genera, including 120 species, are defined and described, a score of the species having been discovered and named by the author. Great and abiding as is the service which Mr. Hinton is thus rendering to systematic zoologists, he is doing even more for the student of evolution, and it is to this aspect of his inquiries which we desire to direct attention now.

Monograph of the Voles and Lemmings (Microtinæ), Living and Extinct.

By Martin A. C. Hinton. Vol. 1. Pp. xvi + 488 + 15 plates. (London: British Museum (Natural History), 1926.) 30s.