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Gerbillus cheesmaniCheesman's gerbil

By Divya Jain

Ge­o­graphic Range

Ger­bil­lus cheesmani, one of the north­ern pygmy ger­bils, ranges from the Ara­bian Penin­sula east to south­west­ern Iran. (Badr and Asker, 1980; Nowak, 1997)

Habi­tat

G. cheesmani is found in rocky and sandy dry areas, often under coarse or sparse veg­e­ta­tion. (Nowak, 1997; Scott and Dun­stone, 2000)

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

G. cheesmani, a medium sized ger­bil, is sand-col­ored, al­low­ing it to blend into its sur­round­ings. Usu­ally the mid­dle line of the dor­sum is a bit darker than sides. The paler sides blend in to the belly of the ger­bil, which ranges from cream to white. The tail is furry and the un­der­side of the tail usu­ally is sim­i­lar in color to the un­der­side of the body. The end of the tail has a small tuft and is usu­ally white. The pelage of Cheesman's ger­bil is soft and dense.

This species is lean and has long ears and claws. The tail is longer than its head and body. The tail alone can range from 69-180 mm in length com­pared to the head and body range of 50-130 mm. Its hind feet are long and can be over 25 per­cent of the head and body length. The soles of the feet are hairy. Un­like some ger­bils, the teeth of G. cheesmani are not hyp­sodont. (Badr & Asker 1980; Nowak 1997)

The skull of G. cheesmani ranges in length from 26.1-33 mm. It has large tym­panic bul­lae. The mas­toid parts of the skull ex­tend past the supraoc­cip­i­tal. The ros­trum is nar­row and the brain­case is in­flated. (Har­ri­son 1972) (Badr and Asker, 1980; Har­ri­son, 1972; Nowak, 1997)

  • Range mass
    10 to 63 g
    0.35 to 2.22 oz
  • Range length
    119 to 310 mm
    4.69 to 12.20 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

The fe­males are polye­strous, mean­ing that they ovu­late more than once a year. Lit­ters av­er­age 4 or 5 pups, can range up to 8. The ges­ta­tion pe­riod is 20-22 days, and pups nurse for about a month. (Nowak, 1997)

  • Breeding season
    This species breeds in all seasons.
  • Range number of offspring
    1 to 8
  • Average number of offspring
    4-5
  • Range gestation period
    20 to 22 days
  • Average weaning age
    1 months

The young are born naked and are de­pen­dent on their moth­ers for at least a month. (Nowak, 1997)

Lifes­pan/Longevity

We don't have any in­for­ma­tion on longevity in this species.

Be­hav­ior

Cheese­man's ger­bils dig tun­nels that vary from sim­ple holes to in­tri­cate, maze-like bur­rows. The bur­rows may be short or long and may also serve as stor­age sites for food. The en­trances are blocked off by sand. Mem­bers of the species usu­ally dig their bur­rows close to each other, thus form­ing colonies. (Nowak, 1997)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Food Habits

These ger­bils are pri­mar­ily her­biv­o­rous, but also eat in­sects. Foods eaten in­clude: seeds, nuts, grasses, roots and in­sects. They store food in their bur­rows. (Nowak, 1997)

  • Animal Foods
  • insects
  • Plant Foods
  • leaves
  • roots and tubers
  • seeds, grains, and nuts

Ecosys­tem Roles

  • Ecosystem Impact
  • disperses seeds

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

This species is not be­lieved to need spe­cial con­ser­va­tion ef­forts. It is rated "Lower Risk" by the Red List.

Con­trib­u­tors

Divya Jain (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Bret We­in­stein (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Palearctic

living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.

World Map

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

colonial

used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.

desert or dunes

in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

fossorial

Referring to a burrowing life-style or behavior, specialized for digging or burrowing.

granivore

an animal that mainly eats seeds

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

internal fertilization

fertilization takes place within the female's body

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

saltatorial

specialized for leaping or bounding locomotion; jumps or hops.

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

stores or caches food

places a food item in a special place to be eaten later. Also called "hoarding"

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

year-round breeding

breeding takes place throughout the year

Ref­er­ences

Badr, F., R. Asker. 1980. Preva­lence of non-Robert­son­ian poly­mor­phism in the Ger­bil Ger­bil­lus cheesmani from Kuwait.. Ge­net­ica, 52: 17-22.

Har­ri­son, D. 1972. The Mam­mals of Ara­bia, vol. 3. Lon­don: Ernest Benn Lim­ited.

Nowak, R. 1997. "Walker's Mam­mals of the World On­line 5.1" (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 19, 2001 at http://​www.​press.​jhu.​edu/​books/​walkers_​mammals_​of_​the_​world/​rodentia/​rodentia.​muridae.​gerbillus.​html.

Scott, D., N. Dun­stone. 2000. En­vi­ron­men­tal de­ter­mi­nants of the com­po­si­tion of desert-liv­ing ro­dent com­mu­ni­ties in the north-east Badia re­gion of Jor­dan. Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, 251: 481-494.

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Specimens
Classification

Classification

  • Kingdom Animalia animals
  • Phylum Chordata chordates
  • Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
  • Class Mammalia mammals
  • Order Rodentia rodents
  • Family Muridae Old World mice and rats, gerbils, whistling rats, and relatives
  • Genus Gerbillus gerbils
  • Species Gerbillus cheesmani Cheesman's gerbil