Jerboa Temporal range: Middle Miocene - Recent |
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Allactaga tetradactyla | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Superfamily: | Dipodoidea |
Family: |
Dipodidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 |
Genera | |
10 genera in 5 subfamilies |
10 genera in 5 subfamilies
The jerboa (from Arabic: جربوع jarbūʻ ) forms the bulk of the membership of the family Dipodidae. Jerboas are hopping desert rodents found throughout Northern Africa and Asia east to northern China and Manchuria. They tend to live in hot deserts.
When chased, jerboas can run at up to 24 kilometres per hour. Some species are preyed on by little owls (Athene noctua) in central Asia. Most species of jerboa have excellent hearing that they use to avoid becoming the prey of nocturnal predators. The typical lifespan of a jerboa is around six years.
Jerboas look somewhat like kangaroos as they have many similarities such as long hind legs, very short forelegs and long tails. Jerboas move around their environment the same way a kangaroo does, which is by hopping. Like other bipedal animals, their foramen magnum—the hole at the base of the skull—is forward-shifted, which enhances two legged locomotion. The tail of a jerboa can be longer than its head and body and it is common to see a white cluster of hair at the end of the tail. Jerboas use their tail to balance when hopping, and as a prop when sitting upright. Jerboa fur is fine, and usually the colour of sand. This colour usually matches the environment the jerboa lives in (an example of cryptic colouration). Some species of the jerboa family have long ears like a rabbit, and others have ears that are short like those of a mouse or rat.
Jerboas are nocturnal. During the heat of the day they shelter in burrows. At night they leave the burrows due to the cooler temperature of their environment. They dig the entrances to their burrow near plant life, especially along field borders. During the rainy season they make tunnels in mounds or hills to reduce the risk of flooding. In the summer, jerboas occupying holes plug the entrance to keep out hot air and, some researchers speculate, predators. In most cases burrows have an emergency exit that ends just below the surface or opens at the surface but is not strongly obstructed. This allows the jerboa to quickly escape predators.