Four-toed Jerboa
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| Four-toed Jerboa | |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Dipodidae |
| Genus: | Allactaga |
| Subgenus: | Scarturus Gloger, 1841 |
| Species: | A. tetradactyla |
| Binomial name | |
| Allactaga tetradactyla Lichtenstein, 1823 |
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| Geographic range | |
The Four-toed Jerboa (Allactaga tetradactyla) is a small jumping desert rodent. This species of jerboa is endangered and lives in coastal salt marshes, and dry and clay deserts. It has long hind legs, short front legs, and long ears about the length of its head. Its fur is the color of the sand it burrows in, with a white underbelly. It is native to Egypt and Libya.
Each back foot of this Jerboa has an extra, fourth toe, which is small compared to the 3 functional toes. In other respects it is a typical Jerboa, with its huge, hopping back feet and tall, rabbitlike ears. The upperparts are speckled black and orange, the rump orange, the sides gray, and the underparts white. The long, balancing tail has a black band near the white, feathery tip. Emerging at night, the Jerboa eats grass, leaves, and soft seeds.
[edit] References
- ^ Hutterer, R., Kryštufek, B. & Aulagnier, S. (2008). Allactaga tetradactyla. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 11 February 2009.
- 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.
- http://www.ohnitsch.net/refs/index.php?dir=Mammalia%20-%20Zoogdieren/04%20Anagalida%20-%20Rodents,%20Lagomorphs/Rodentia/Jerboa/&sort=date&order=desc
- http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Definitive-Visual-Worlds-Wildlife/dp/0756616344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308432801&sr=8-1
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