The Balkan snow vole is the only surviving species of the tribe Pliomyini, a branch of the voles otherwise known only from the Pliocene and Pleistocene; its nearest relatives are known only as fossils from cave deposits in Europe. The species lives in the limestone of the Dinaric Mountains, in small, scattered populations among the karst blocks. It breeds slowly, is tied to a single landscape type and is listed on the Red List as Vulnerable.