📸 PhotoPhoto: Argus fin · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons Source
Norway Brown Lemming
Lemmus lemmus (Norway Brown Lemming · ノルウェーレミング)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum weight of 130 g is about two eggs (about 60 g each), and its body length of 17.5 cm is slightly longer than a smartphone (about 15 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 It inspired Scandinavian legends of lemming hordes marching across the land every 3–5 years; Olaus Magnus first illustrated these migrations in 1555, and today the species is studied for population cycles (Animal Diversity Web).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Norway Brown Lemming is a small rodent living in the tundra and alpine regions of Scandinavia, spending the winter in warm spaces beneath the snow.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its thick body and heavy coat help it endure the cold, with black and brown fur mixed with golden streaks. Its tail is inconspicuous and its short legs tuck beneath the body.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds mainly on mosses, lichens, bark, and grasses. Active both day and night, it tends to live solitarily and breeds year-round.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2024) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/11481/221786418
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1002141
- • iucnredlist.org — 221786418
- • wikidata.org — Q819985
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Tunturisopuli Lemmus Lemmus.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Lemmus lemmus
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Edwin Price · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Oligoryzomys nigripes)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.