The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Arctic Lemming

(Dicrostonyx torquatus), a mammal of the family Cricetidae of the order Rodentia. The body length is 13–15 cm, and the tail length, 1.6–2 cm. In the summer the fur is reddish brown with small spots and a black stripe along the back; there is a light band around the neck. In the winter the fur is white. The claws are long; on the middle toe of the forefeet they grow exceedingly long by winter. The arctic lemming is distributed in the tundras of Europe (except for the Kola Peninsula), Asia, and North America.

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References in periodicals archive

Our understanding of the winter ecology of Arctic lemmings (Dicrostonyx and Lemmus spp.) remains poor despite almost a hundred years of study (Elton, 1924).

Population cycles in Arctic lemmings: Winter reproduction and predation by weasels.

Evaluation of a technique to trap lemmings under the snow

From such a hypothesis, we predict that an intrinsic factor should be included when modeling the cyclic dynamics of arctic lemmings.

Lemming-food plant interactions, density effects, and cyclic dynamics on the siberian tundra

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