A lemming is a small rodent that lives in the temperate and polar regions of North America and Eurasia. They can be found in various habitats, such as steppes, alpine or arctic tundra, bogs, coniferous forests, and sagebrush-covered slopes. Lemmings are active year-round and eat vegetation like roots, leaves, and mosses. They create runway systems and nests in burrows or under rocks. Lemmings do not commit mass suicide by jumping into the sea. Lemming populations fluctuate dramatically, and when they get too large, they may migrate, sometimes being forced into the sea, where they drown. There are 20 lemming species that belong to 6 genera.

What do lemmings eat?

Lemmings are small rodents that live in the temperate and polar regions of North America and Eurasia. They can be found in various habitats, including steppes, alpine or arctic tundras, coniferous forests, and sagebrush-covered slopes. Lemmings are active year-round and eat almost any available vegetation, such as roots, buds, leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, grasses, sedges, and mosses. Collared lemmings also eat stems of Arctic willows and have special claws for digging through snow to reach them.

How do lemmings survive in cold environments?

Lemmings survive in cold environments through a combination of behavioral and physical adaptations. They are active year-round, constructing nests in burrows or beneath rocks and snow to insulate themselves from the harsh temperatures. Collared lemmings and brown lemmings create nests on the tundra surface or under the snow. Some lemmings in the Dicrostonyx genus change from brown or gray to white during the winter, which may provide better insulation because of air spaces in the hair shaft. They also develop special winter claws to dig through snow for nests and food, such as Arctic willows.

Why do lemmings have population booms and crashes?

Lemming populations experience cycles of booms and busts due to a combination of factors. Lemmings do not commit mass suicide; rather, their populations fluctuate dramatically every two to five years because of optimal breeding conditions, overutilization of food, and low predation. When lemming populations grow too large, they may migrate in search of new habitats. While most travel short distances, Norway lemmings are known to move in large numbers in all directions. During these migrations, some lemmings may be forced into the sea, where they drown. The simple ecosystems of the Arctic can also contribute to population fluctuations. During population booms, the abundance of lemmings leads to high reproductive success among their predators, such as Arctic foxes and snowy owls. However, when lemming numbers decline, these predator populations also decrease.

Is it true that lemmings jump off cliffs, and where did this idea come from?

The idea that lemmings jump off cliffs en masse is a myth. Lemmings do not commit suicide. This belief likely started because of a combination of factors. Lemmings do have population booms every three to four years. When their numbers get too high, they migrate to find new homes. Because they can swim, they attempt to cross bodies of water, and some drown, but this isn't suicide. The biggest reason the myth endures is deliberate fraud. For the 1958 Disney nature film White Wilderness , filmmakers staged a lemming death plunge, pushing dozens of lemmings off a cliff while cameras were rolling.

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Examine habits of lemmings and dangers they face during migration, such as predation, starvation, and accidents

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Related Topics:: brown lemming; wood lemming; collared lemming; Norway lemming; steppe lemming

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Top Questions

What is a lemming?
A lemming is a small rodent that lives in the temperate and polar regions of North America and Eurasia. They can be found in various habitats, such as steppes, alpine or arctic tundra, bogs, coniferous forests, and sagebrush-covered slopes. Lemmings are active year-round and eat vegetation like roots, leaves, and mosses. They create runway systems and nests in burrows or under rocks. Lemmings do not commit mass suicide by jumping into the sea. Lemming populations fluctuate dramatically, and when they get too large, they may migrate, sometimes being forced into the sea, where they drown. There are 20 lemming species that belong to 6 genera.
2 Britannica Sources
1. lemming: Natural history
2. Lepidoptera: Environmental hazards
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where do lemmings live?
Lemmings are small rodents that live in the Northern Hemisphere, in both North America and Eurasia. They can be found in a variety of environments, including temperate and polar regions, steppes, semideserts, alpine or arctic tundra, sphagnum bogs, coniferous forests, and sagebrush-covered slopes.

Collared lemmings of the genus Dicrostonyx turn white in the winter. They dwell beneath the snow, using specialized winter claws to dig through drifts to create nests and reach food.
2 Britannica Sources
1. 7 Animals That Turn White in Winter: Collared Lemmings
2. lemming: Natural history
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What do lemmings eat?
Lemmings are small rodents that live in the temperate and polar regions of North America and Eurasia. They can be found in various habitats, including steppes, alpine or arctic tundras, coniferous forests, and sagebrush-covered slopes.

Lemmings are active year-round and eat almost any available vegetation, such as roots, buds, leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, grasses, sedges, and mosses. Collared lemmings also eat stems of Arctic willows and have special claws for digging through snow to reach them.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do lemmings survive in cold environments?
Lemmings survive in cold environments through a combination of behavioral and physical adaptations. They are active year-round, constructing nests in burrows or beneath rocks and snow to insulate themselves from the harsh temperatures. Collared lemmings and brown lemmings create nests on the tundra surface or under the snow. Some lemmings in the Dicrostonyx genus change from brown or gray to white during the winter, which may provide better insulation because of air spaces in the hair shaft. They also develop special winter claws to dig through snow for nests and food, such as Arctic willows.
2 Britannica Sources
1. 7 Animals That Turn White in Winter: Collared Lemmings
2. lemming: Natural history
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why do lemmings have population booms and crashes?
Lemming populations experience cycles of booms and busts due to a combination of factors. Lemmings do not commit mass suicide; rather, their populations fluctuate dramatically every two to five years because of optimal breeding conditions, overutilization of food, and low predation.

When lemming populations grow too large, they may migrate in search of new habitats. While most travel short distances, Norway lemmings are known to move in large numbers in all directions. During these migrations, some lemmings may be forced into the sea, where they drown.

The simple ecosystems of the Arctic can also contribute to population fluctuations. During population booms, the abundance of lemmings leads to high reproductive success among their predators, such as Arctic foxes and snowy owls. However, when lemming numbers decline, these predator populations also decrease.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Is it true that lemmings jump off cliffs, and where did this idea come from?
The idea that lemmings jump off cliffs en masse is a myth. Lemmings do not commit suicide. This belief likely started because of a combination of factors.

Lemmings do have population booms every three to four years. When their numbers get too high, they migrate to find new homes. Because they can swim, they attempt to cross bodies of water, and some drown, but this isn't suicide.

The biggest reason the myth endures is deliberate fraud. For the 1958 Disney nature film White Wilderness, filmmakers staged a lemming death plunge, pushing dozens of lemmings off a cliff while cameras were rolling.
2 Britannica Sources
1. Do Lemmings Really Commit Mass Suicide?
2. lemming: Natural history
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

lemming, any of 20 species of small rodents, some of which undertake large, swarming migrations. Lemmings are found only in the Northern Hemisphere. They have short, stocky bodies with short legs and stumpy tails, a bluntly rounded muzzle, small eyes, and small ears that are nearly hidden in their long, dense, soft fur. The wood lemming (Myopus schisticolor) and steppe lemming (Lagurus lagurus) are the smallest, measuring 8 to 12 cm (3.1 to 4.7 inches) in body length and weighing 20 to 30 grams (0.7 to 1.0 ounce). The other species are larger, weighing 30 to 112 grams, with bodies 10 to 22 cm long. The colour of the collared lemming varies seasonally. During the summer its coat is gray tinged with buff or reddish brown and with dark stripes on the face and back. In the winter they molt into a white coat and develop forked digging claws. Other species are gray, sandy yellow, various tints and tones of brown, or slate gray and black.

Natural history

Norway lemmingNorway lemming (Lemmus lemmus).

Lemmings live throughout temperate and polar regions of North America and Eurasia, inhabiting steppes and semideserts, treeless alpine or arctic tundra, sphagnum bogs, coniferous forests, and sagebrush-covered slopes, where they are solitary and generally intolerant of one another. Active year-round, they feed on almost any sort of vegetation, including roots, buds, leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, grasses, sedges, and mosses. Lemmings scamper along extensive runway systems and construct nests in burrows or beneath rocks. Collared and brown lemmings (Dicrostonyx and Lemmus) make nests on the tundra surface or beneath the snow. Breeding from spring to fall, females can produce up to 13 young after a gestation period of about 20 to 30 days.

Lemmings do not, as is popularly supposed, plunge into the sea in a deliberate suicidal death march. Historically, collared and brown lemming populations fluctuate dramatically, with highest levels reached every two to five years. After several years of optimal breeding conditions, overutilization of food resources, and low predation, populations become excessively large and more aggressive. As a result, the lemmings may migrate in late summer or fall. Most travel only short distances, but the Norway lemmings (Lemmus lemmus) in Scandinavia are a dramatic exception. From a central point, they move in growing numbers outward in all directions, at first erratically and under cover of darkness but later in bold groups that may travel in daylight. Huge hordes overrun broad areas, and some lemmings are often forced to swim water barriers or into human settlements. Many die because they cannot locate a suitable habitat, and others drown when they are pushed into the sea by the pressing momentum of the masses behind them. An especially massive outbreak occurs every 30 to 35 years in Lapland, with the lemmings swarming to central Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia.

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Since the mid-1990s, lemming populations in southern Norway have not followed historical patterns. Norway lemmings overwinter in the spaces between the deep snow and the ground surface. Warmer, more humid winters have produced fewer areas of this specialized habitat, and the heavy, wet snow has made remaining spaces less secure.

Classification

The 20 lemming species belong to 6 genera, which, along with voles and muskrats, are classified in the subfamily Arvicolinae of the mouse family (Muridae) within the order Rodentia.

Genus Dicrostonyx (collared lemmings)
11 species.
Genus Lemmus (brown lemmings)
3 species.
Genus Eolagurus (yellow steppe lemmings)
2 species.
Genus Synaptomys (bog lemmings)
2 species.
Genus Lagurus (steppe lemming)
1 species.
Genus Myopus (wood lemming)
1 species.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.

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