Four-toed jerboa

The four-toed jerboa (Scarturus tetradactyla) is a rodent of the family Dipodidae and genus Scarturus that has four digits. Four-toed jerboas are native to Egypt and Libya. They live in coastal salt marshes and dry deserts.

Four-toed jerboa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Dipodidae
Genus: Scarturus
Gloger, 1841
Species:
S. tetradactyla
Binomial name
Scarturus tetradactyla
Geographic range

Physical appearance

Similar to the other jerboas in the genera Allactaga and Scarturus, the four-toed jerboa are small hopping rodents with large ears and a long tail, with a black band near the white, feathery tip. The tail assists and serves as support when the jerboa is standing upright.[2] They have long hind feet and short forelegs.[3] The pelt of the four-toed jerboa is velvety in texture and the upper-parts are speckled black and orange, the rump orange, and the sides gray. The four-toed jerboa hind-limbs have an extra digit compared to other jerboas in the genus Allactaga. The extra digit is smaller in size and nonfunctional compared to the other three digits.[4]

Nutrition

Emerging at night, the four-toed jerboa eats grass, leaves, and soft seeds.[5] The low crown molars and soft palates help the four-toed jerboa chew plant material and seeds.[6]

The four-toed jerboa is a host of the acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Moniliformis aegyptiacus.[7]

Conservation status

The four-toed jerboa was listed as on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They are at very high risk of extinction due to habitat loss and restricted range.

References
  1. Gerrie, R.; Kennerley, R. (2017). "Allactaga tetradactyla". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T850A22201540. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T850A22201540.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. Kirmiz, John P. Adaptation to Desert Environment; A Study on the Jerboa, Rat and Man. London: Butterworths, 1962. 17. Print.
  3. Lagassé, Paul. "Jerboa." The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. New York: Columbia UP, 2000. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Oct. 2013.
  4. Shahin, A (2005). "Growth and Maturation of Metatarsals and Their Taxonomic Significance in the Jerboas Allactaga and Jaculus (Rodentia: Dipodidae)". Acta Zoologica. 86 (2): 82. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6395.2005.00189.x.
  5. Holden, M. E. and G. G. Musser. 2005. Family Dipodidae. pp. 871–893 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
  6. Basyouny Shahin, Adel (1999). "A Comparative Study of the Molar and Soft Palate Characters of the Genera Allactaga and Jaculus (Mammalia: Rodentia) in Egypt". Zoology in the Middle East. 18 (1): 17–32. doi:10.1080/09397140.1999.10637779.
  7. Guerreiro Martins, Natalia Beatriz; Del Rosario Robles, María; Navone, Graciela Teresa (2017). "A new species of Moniliformis from a Sigmodontinae rodent in Patagonia (Argentina)". Parasitology Research. 116 (8): 2091–2099. doi:10.1007/s00436-017-5508-9. PMID 28585077. Retrieved February 9, 2020.


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