Wood lemming
Myopus schisticolor (Lilljeborg, 1844)
The wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor) is a species in the family Cricetidae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 25 g to 26.4 g and live up to 1 year. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the wood lemming
- Weight
- 25 g – 26.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 1 yearsrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 2.08 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 22.7 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.94src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 29 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the wood lemming live?
Not recorded
What is the wood lemming?
The wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It belongs to the rodent subfamily Arvicolinae, so is a relative of the voles, lemmings, and muskrats.
It is found in the taiga biome of China, Estonia, Finland, Mongolia, Norway, Russia, and Sweden.
From the Wikipedia article “Wood lemming” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wood_lemming&oldid=1376061349), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the wood lemming endangered?
The wood lemming is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the wood lemming classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyCricetidae
- genusMyopus
- SpeciesMyopus schisticolor (Lilljeborg, 1844)
Synonyms Lemmus schisticolor, Myodes schisticolor, Myopus middendorfii, Myopus morulus, Myopus saianicus, Myopus schisticolor vinogradovi, Myopus thayeri
Other names and names in other languages (16)
- lumík lesníCzech
- WaldlemmingGerman
- Léming De BosqueSpanish
- metsäsopuliFinnish
- Lemming De ForetFrench
- Lemming des forêtsFrench
- モリレミングJapanese
- Oin HövhöljinMongolian
- Taigyn Hövdnii HövhöljinMongolian
- skoglemenNorwegian Bokmål
- BoslemmingDutch
- Leming leśnyPolish
- lemingowiec leśnyPolish
- Лесной леммингRussian
- vuovdegoddesáhpánNorthern Sami
- skogslämmelSwedish
Relatives of the wood lemming
Other species in the same family Cricetidae.
Muskrat
Ondatra zibethicus
European water vole
Arvicola amphibius
European hamster
Cricetus cricetus
Common vole
Microtus arvalis
Bank vole
Myodes glareolus
Golden hamster
Mesocricetus auratus
CompareWood lemming vs MuskratWood lemming vs European water voleWood lemming vs European hamsterWood lemming vs Common vole
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the wood lemming?
An adult wood lemming weighs 25 g – 26.4 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the wood lemming endangered?
The wood lemming is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the wood lemming live?
The wood lemming has a recorded lifespan of 1 year.
How long is the wood lemming pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 22.7 days.
What kind of animal is the wood lemming?
The wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor) belongs to the family Cricetidae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-lemming
“Wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-lemming.
@misc{wood_lemming_2026,
title = {Wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-lemming},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}