The Orkney vole occurs on nine islands of the group, Mainland, Sanday, Westray, Rousay, South Ronaldsay, Burray, Eday, Shapinsay, and Stronsay.

However, others do not recognise any subspecies of the common vole,[2] especially since DNA analysis indicates transport by Neolithic humans from what is now Belgium.

The current leading hypothesis for the development of this disjunct population is that voles were introduced to the Orkney archipelago by humans in Neolithic times, possibly concealed in animal fodder.

The oldest known radiocarbon-dated fossil of the species in Orkney is 4,600 years old: this marks the latest possible date of introduction.

[4] It was once hypothesized that the Orkney voles were a relict population, left behind when the land-bridge connecting Scotland and Orkney had disappeared, by the date that the more competitive Microtus agrestis had reached Northern Scotland, though this theory has since been rejected based on paleontological, ecological, biological and geological evidence.