Long-eared jerboa: description with photo

A small animal with huge ears, long hind legs and a thin long-veneer tail with a black and white tassel - that's what a long-eared jerboa looks like. Zverek looks comical in photographs, and at first glance it is very difficult to understand why he needs such excesses.

Long-eared jerboa: description

It is worth mentioning that for the first time this mysterious rodent was shot on a video camera in 2007 by participants of the London expedition led by Dr. Bailey (London Zoological Society), although the species was studied in detail in the twentieth century. One of the goals of the expedition to the Gobi Desert was to study in the natural conditions of a long-eared jerboa.

The length of his body is maximum 9 cm, the tail is up to 17 cm, the ears are up to 5 cm, the length of the foot is up to 4.5 cm.

The head is unusual for the other jerboa forms - wedge-shaped, elongated, with a small stigma (like a pig),

Eyes wide apart, small.

The coat is soft, dense, high.

Color: light red to ocher top, bottom can be light to white.

The tail has the same color along the entire length, the tassel at the end is white-black, not flat as in the other jerboas, but round.

The front paws are small, their inner finger has a long curved claw.

Hind legs long and very narrow. Two lateral toes short, in the middle three long. All fingers have developed hard pads.

Way of movement: exclusively on hind legs (like a kangaroo). Jumping up to three meters.

Habitat

For the first time the rodent was described in 1890 on samples from China. Mongolian representatives of this species were found much later, first in 1954, and already participating in joint expeditions of the USSR and Mongolia in the seventies of the last century, the Mongolian long-haired jerboa was studied in more detail.

Where does this rodent live? His life passes in the Gobi desert, consisting of a chain of small deserts located in the territories of Mongolia and China.

The climate of this desert is sharply continental - in winter to minus 55, in summer to plus 58. The temperature difference, therefore, is 113 degrees (for comparison: at the Pole of Cold in Oymyakon is less - 112 degrees).

Each of the deserts is distinguished by the composition of the soil (from stony plateaus to sand dunes), the presence of vegetation (from the poor - rare saxaul bushes, to meadow steppes in places where the groundwater reaches the surface).

The long-eared jerboa in the Gobi desert was seen in sandy areas with low vegetation (saxaul).

According to the latest estimates of scientists who regularly conduct observations, it is established that their numbers are extremely low - only 0.5 individuals per each hectare of habitat.

Long-eared jerboa: what feeds on

Unlike their main relatives, whose food became plants, the animal feeds on insects. He does not drink, getting liquid together with an insect.

Its long ears let you hear any vibrations in the air at a distance of up to five meters. Vibrissa (long mustache) senses an insect in flight and under a layer of soil. Long legs give an exceptional opportunity to very quickly catch an insect and catch it in a high (up to three meters) jump.

Proportions

When the long-eared jerboa very quickly runs (jumps), its large ears are tightly pressed to the body and reach for the tips of the sacrum.

The whiskers growing on the muzzle (the vibrissae) are also long, and their tips (if bent) reach the base of the tail.

The front paws are small, their length is only one third from the rear.

The tail is almost two to two and a half times larger than the animal itself.

Lifestyle

The long-eared jerboa is nocturnal, this is due to the fairly high daytime temperatures in the desert.

In connection with a sharp decrease in winter temperatures, these small creatures can not heat themselves, for this they need to spend a lot of energy and are very good at eating. They sleep in winter, having previously accumulated enough fat, including the entire length of the tail.

The long-eared jerboa dug a so-called winter cave, very deep - up to two meters (not to freeze), with a long tunnel and the chamber in which it sleeps.

In the summer, the rodent digs out three kinds of burrows: rescue, day and permanent. Depth of rescue - only 20 centimeters, day time (for sleeping) - 50 centimeters. To the constant holes the approach is special: the central course is inclined, leads to the chamber with supplies and the main one, the spare ones just end in a dead end. The main chamber, located in the back of the burrow, jerboa lining with suitable remains of vegetation. In case of danger, the animal moves very quickly from the main chamber to a reserve course, and the entrance to it is immediately sealed with a sand stopper.

If the animal does not catch prey, it digs its mink.

Features that help to survive

The ears of long-eared jerboa are not so long as huge (relative to the surface of the body) in the area. What for? In the desert in summer, air can warm up to 50 degrees, and an unusually large network of blood vessels in the ears helps to cool the rodent (in fact, just like the elephant).

It is interesting that the ears of a waking animal are always in suspense. They fold back when it moves fast (for example, runs away from danger). And during rest the ears are soft, their blood supply is reduced.

On the hind legs of a long-eared jerboa grow special bristly hair, which help it to rest on loose sandy soils. And hard pads - they make it possible to deftly move around a stony plateau.

The long tail participates in pushing away from the soil during the first jump, in subsequent jumps it is straightened and serves as a kind of steering wheel with a change of direction of motion.

Anterior short legs are needed for digging holes, digging out insect larvae, and wedge-shaped (pig) nose helps in these exercises. Front paws rodent keeps prey, makes gags for burrows.

Long-eared rodent and the environment

The jerboa corrects the number of insects in its area. Although a small study of animals does not allow us to say with certainty about the opposite.

According to observations of English zoologists, the long-eared jerboa can tolerate tularemia and plague.

In feces of rodents, microorganisms helikobakter pylori are found, and this is a direct threat to human health.

Domestication of long-eared ears is not practiced, due to the small number and difficulties in obtaining the animals themselves.

According to the records of Soviet researchers, rodents in captivity begin to bite.

Reproduction

After winter hibernation, females are ready for mating. One individual can tolerate and feed from two to six babies. Due to the small number and difficulty of tracking, it is still not established how many times a long-eared rodent produces offspring for a life. Some scientists draw a parallel with similar subspecies, arguing that the above-mentioned rodent lives two to three years and brings offspring several times. According to others, the rodent only reproduces once in a lifetime, and lives up to six years.

Females can theoretically fully nurture eight babies, having the same number of nipples arranged in two rows.

It is interesting

The long-eared jerboa is listed in the Red Book of Mongolia. Recent and constant observations in the Gobi desert confirm the small number of these rodents, but do not establish a tendency to complete extinction.

The rodent is cynical, charming, charming. Interest in it is constantly growing. The long-eared jerboa, the photo of which is placed in this article, is compared even with Mickey Mouse.