This study investigated the taxonomic status of a laboratory strain belonging to the family Arvicolinae for which the wild species name is unknown. This vole strain, though considered formerly a Lemming, was distinguishable from any Lemmus species by features of its appearance, skull and molar morphology, and conventional chromosomal pattern. Subsequently, we read the nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (Cyb) gene and constructed a molecular phylogenetic tree. We found that this vole strain belongs to the same clade as Microtus guenthe