New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lemming

Lemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic. Together with the voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae), which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes the rats, mice, hamsters, and gerbils.

Lemmings mostly weigh 30 to 112 grams (1–4 oz) and are about 7 to 15 centimetres (2.75 – 6 in) long. They usually have long, soft fur and very short tails. They are herbivorous, feeding mostly on leaves and shoots, grasses, and sedges in particular, but also roots and bulbs in some cases. Like many rodents' teeth, their incisors grow continuously, allowing them to exist on much tougher forage than would otherwise be possible. While many people believe that lemmings commit mass suicide when they migrate, this is not actually the case. Lemmings will often migrate in large groups and as a result some lemmings will occasionally be pushed off cliffs or drowned in bodies of water simply by the press of their compatriots but such deaths are unintentional and incidental.

Related Stories
 


Plants & Animals News

June 11, 2026

A potentially dangerous tapeworm linked to severe, cancer-like disease has now been found in the Pacific Northwest, marking its first detection in wild animals along the U.S. West Coast. Researchers ...
For nearly 700 years, Indigenous hunters repeatedly used a bison kill site in central Montana—then suddenly stopped, even though bison were still abundant. Researchers uncovered evidence that ...
Researchers propose that tiny mineral nanoparticles may have been the hidden engines that transformed Earth’s early chemistry into the first building blocks of life. By acting as natural catalysts and energy processors, these “nanozymes” could ...
South Australia’s koala population has grown so large that it may be heading toward a self-made disaster, with forests struggling to support the animals. Researchers say targeted fertility control could prevent widespread starvation and habitat ...
A massive global analysis found that nitrogen pollution can either speed up or dramatically slow the natural "breathing" of forest soils, depending on the ecosystem's condition. The results reveal hidden tipping points that could affect how forests ...
A world-famous conservation program that helped save Sweden’s endangered wolverines is now struggling as funding stagnates and local trust erodes. Researchers say the decline offers a cautionary lesson: protecting wildlife requires long-term ...
A surprising new discovery suggests that tiny microbes living inside fish may be helping shape the chemistry of the world’s oceans. Scientists found evidence that bacteria in the guts of marine fish work alongside their hosts to produce calcium ...
A casual walk through an Ithaca cemetery led to the discovery of a gigantic hidden bee population — roughly 5.5 million ground-nesting bees packed beneath the soil. Scientists believe it may be one of the largest bee aggregations ever documented ...
A sweeping new study of wild snakes in the southeastern US has revealed a hidden health crisis slithering beneath the surface. Researchers found that many snakes are carrying multiple infections at once, with a dangerous fungal disease called ...
Scientists have uncovered a surprising twist in how cells behave when division goes wrong. Sometimes a cell successfully copies its DNA but fails to split into two, leaving it with double the genetic material — a mistake linked to aging, cancer, ...
Scientists have cracked open the “black box” of feline cancer in a landmark study that genetically analyzed nearly 500 cat tumors from around the world. The research uncovered striking ...
Researchers discovered that leucine, a nutrient found in protein-rich foods, can supercharge mitochondria by protecting crucial energy-producing proteins inside cells. The breakthrough uncovers a powerful new link between diet and cellular energy ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET