> Actually, I believe 'microtine' is an adjective, not a noun,
> as Kelly infers.
>
> As in, "Microtine rodents make up a high percentage of the
> marten's diet..."

"Microtine" is not in my Webster's Unabridged. I think it's zoology slang.
Can slang have a "correct" use? Ingles uses it both ways on page 271 of my
version (copyright 1965) of Mammals of the Pacific States.

Kelly Cassidy