.gif)
Meriones (genus)
Encyclopedia
Meriones is a rodent
genus
that includes the gerbil
most commonly kept as a pet, Meriones unguiculatus
. The genus contains most animals referred to as jirds, but members of the genera Sekeetamys, Brachiones, and sometimes Pachyuromys are also known as jirds. The distribution of Meriones ranges from northern Africa
to Mongolia
. Meriones jirds tend to inhabit arid regions including clay desert
, sandy desert, and steppe
, but are also in slightly wetter regions and are an agricultural
pest.
They are more rat
-like in appearance than many other gerbillines, but are still capable of leaping. They have strong front claws which are used to dig their burrow
s.
, temperature regulation and water retention
. The burrows of some species are rather simple, but others can be quite complex. Meriones crassus adults have been reported to have burrows that have a combined length of over 30 meters and have 18 entrances (Nowak, 1999). Food is stored in chambers of the burrows. As with other arid adapted rodents, stored food has the capacity to reabsorb moisture given off by the animal during respiration. Jirds can go their entire lives without drinking, relying instead on water generated during metabolism
. These rodents feed on vegetable
matter, root
s, seed
s, fruit
, and insect
s.
Members of the genus range from being social
to rather solitary. Even in solitary species, home ranges often overlap. Females give birth to 1-12 young after a gestation period of about 20-30 days (Nowak, 1999). Sexual maturity
is reached after about 9-15 weeks. Longevity
in the wild is usually less than 6 months, but the record for a captive animal is over 5 years (Nowak, 1999).
Rhombomyina, a group of mostly Asian gerbils. Tong's (1989) hypothesized relationship is consistent and Pavlinov et al.'s (1990) taxonomy was adopted by Musser and Carleton (2005). McKenna and Bell (1997) use the subtribe name Merionina (presumably arguing that it has priority) for the same group.
In particular, Meriones is thought by Pavlinov et al. (1990) to be sister (cladistically
closest) to the genus Brachiones. Tong (1989), however, suggests that Psammomys
is its sister genus.
There are 17 species of Meriones jirds divided into 4 subgenera.
Genus Meriones
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
that includes the gerbil
Gerbil
A gerbil is a small mammal of the order Rodentia. Once known simply as "desert rats", the gerbil subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats...
most commonly kept as a pet, Meriones unguiculatus
Meriones unguiculatus
Meriones unguiculatus, the Mongolian Jird or Mongolian Gerbil is a rodent belonging to subfamily Gerbillinae. It is the most widely known species of the Gerbil subfamily, and is the usual gerbil species to be kept as a pet or experimental animal, when it is known as the Domesticated Gerbil...
. The genus contains most animals referred to as jirds, but members of the genera Sekeetamys, Brachiones, and sometimes Pachyuromys are also known as jirds. The distribution of Meriones ranges from northern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
. Meriones jirds tend to inhabit arid regions including clay desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, sandy desert, and steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
, but are also in slightly wetter regions and are an agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
pest.
Description
Adult Meriones range in size from 9 to 18 cm (head and body) with a tail that is equal to or slightly longer than the rest of the animal (Corbet and Hill, 1992; Nowak, 1999). Weight varies widely by species but is generally between 30-100 grams.They are more rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
-like in appearance than many other gerbillines, but are still capable of leaping. They have strong front claws which are used to dig their burrow
Burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel dug into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements, so the burrowing way of life is quite popular among the...
s.
Natural history
They construct burrows that aid in food storageFood storage
Food storage is both a traditional domestic skill and is important industrially. Food is stored by almost every human society and by many animals...
, temperature regulation and water retention
Water retention
Water retention can refer to:*Water retention , an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the circulatory system or within the tissues or cavities of the body...
. The burrows of some species are rather simple, but others can be quite complex. Meriones crassus adults have been reported to have burrows that have a combined length of over 30 meters and have 18 entrances (Nowak, 1999). Food is stored in chambers of the burrows. As with other arid adapted rodents, stored food has the capacity to reabsorb moisture given off by the animal during respiration. Jirds can go their entire lives without drinking, relying instead on water generated during metabolism
Metabolism
Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...
. These rodents feed on vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
matter, root
Root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s, seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
, and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s.
Members of the genus range from being social
Sociobiology
Sociobiology is a field of scientific study which is based on the assumption that social behavior has resulted from evolution and attempts to explain and examine social behavior within that context. Often considered a branch of biology and sociology, it also draws from ethology, anthropology,...
to rather solitary. Even in solitary species, home ranges often overlap. Females give birth to 1-12 young after a gestation period of about 20-30 days (Nowak, 1999). Sexual maturity
Sexual maturity
Sexual maturity is the age or stage when an organism can reproduce. It is sometimes considered synonymous with adulthood, though the two are distinct...
is reached after about 9-15 weeks. Longevity
Longevity
The word "longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography or known as "long life", especially when it concerns someone or something lasting longer than expected ....
in the wild is usually less than 6 months, but the record for a captive animal is over 5 years (Nowak, 1999).
Classification
Pavlinov et al. (1990) considered the genus to belong to the (sub)tribeTribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...
Rhombomyina, a group of mostly Asian gerbils. Tong's (1989) hypothesized relationship is consistent and Pavlinov et al.'s (1990) taxonomy was adopted by Musser and Carleton (2005). McKenna and Bell (1997) use the subtribe name Merionina (presumably arguing that it has priority) for the same group.
In particular, Meriones is thought by Pavlinov et al. (1990) to be sister (cladistically
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
closest) to the genus Brachiones. Tong (1989), however, suggests that Psammomys
Psammomys
Psammomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae.It contains the following species:* Fat Sand Rat * Thin Sand Rat -References:...
is its sister genus.
There are 17 species of Meriones jirds divided into 4 subgenera.
Genus Meriones
- Subgenus Meriones
- Tamarisk JirdTamarisk JirdThe Tamarisk Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.-References:* Baillie, J. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
, Meriones tamariscinus
- Tamarisk Jird
- Subgenus Parameriones
- Persian JirdPersian JirdThe Persian jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae found in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan....
, Meriones persicus - King JirdKing JirdThe King Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.-References:* Baillie, J. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
, Meriones rex
- Persian Jird
- Subgenus Pallasiomys
- Arabian JirdArabian JirdThe Arabian Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Oman, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.-References:* Tchabovsky, A. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
, Meriones arimalius - Cheng's JirdCheng's JirdCheng's Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found only in China....
, Meriones chengi - Sundevall's JirdSundevall's JirdSundevall's Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and possibly Mali....
, Meriones crassus - Dahl's JirdDahl's JirdDahl's Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found only in Armenia and the neighboring Agri province of Turkey.-References:* Tchabovsky, A. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
, Meriones dahli - Moroccan Jird, Meriones grandis
- Libyan JirdLibyan JirdThe Libyan Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Afghanistan, Algeria, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan....
, Meriones libycus - Midday JirdMidday JirdThe Midday Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.-References:...
, Meriones meridianus - Buxton's JirdBuxton's JirdBuxton's Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is endemic to Israel.-References:* Baillie, J. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
, Meriones sacramenti - Shaw's JirdShaw's JirdShaw's Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.Its natural habitats are arable land, pastureland, and rural gardens.-References:...
, Meriones shawi - Tristram's JirdTristram's JirdTristram's Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey.-References:* Baillie, J. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
, Meriones tristrami - Mongolian Jird (Mongolian Gerbil), Meriones unguiculatus
- Vinogradov's JirdVinogradov's JirdVinogradov's Jird is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.It is found in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Syria, and Turkey.-References:* Baillie, J. 1996. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
, Meriones vinogradovi - Zarudny's Jird, Meriones zarudnyi
- Arabian Jird
- Subgenus Cheliones
- Indian Desert JirdIndian Desert JirdThe Indian Desert Jird is a species of Jird found mainly in the Thar desert in India. Jirds are closely related to Gerbils.-Distribution:The Indian Desert Jird is found in southeastern Iran and Pakistan to northwestern India...
, Meriones hurrianae
- Indian Desert Jird