---
title: "Italian Water Vole"
description: "Arvicola italicus — Mammals. The European water vole (Arvicola amphibius) or northern water vole is a semi-aquatic rodent."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/italian-water-vole
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Italian Water Vole

> Arvicola italicus — Mammals. The European water vole (Arvicola amphibius) or northern water vole is a semi-aquatic rodent.

- Scientific name: *Arvicola italicus*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 60
- iNaturalist taxon: [1177489](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1177489)

## Names

- en: Italian Water Vole
- fr: Campagnol italique

## Countries with the most observations

IT (46)

## Summary

The European water vole (Arvicola amphibius) or northern water vole is a semi-aquatic rodent. It is often informally called the water rat, though it only superficially resembles a true rat. Water voles have rounder noses than rats, deep brown fur, chubby faces, and short fuzzy ears; unlike rats, their tails, paws, and ears are covered with hair.
In the wild, on average, water voles only live about five months. Maximum longevity in captivity is two and a half years.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_water_vole

## Photo

![Italian Water Vole](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/italian-water-vole/medium.jpg)

Photo: Francesco Cecere · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9438159

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/italian-water-vole?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).