Baluchistan pygmy jerboa

Baluchistan pygmy jerboa Temporal range: Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Dipodidae
Subfamily:	Cardiocraniinae
Genus:	Salpingotulus Pavlinov, 1980
Species:	S. michaelis
Binomial name
Salpingotulus michaelis (FitzGibbon, 1966)

The Baluchistan pygmy jerboa (Salpingotulus michaelis) or dwarf three-toed jerboa, is a species of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It is the only species in the genus Salpingotulus. Adults average only 4.3 cm (1.7 in) in head and body length, with the tail averaging 8 cm (3.1 in). Adult females weigh 3.2 g (0.11 oz).^[2] It is currently considered to be endemic to Pakistan.^[1] In the 1999 Guinness Book of Records, it was listed as tied for the smallest rodent in the world with the northern pygmy mouse.^[3]

Distribution

The species has been recorded from Pakistan and may occur in Afghanistan. It frequents sand dunes, gravel flats and plains in hot deserts.^[1]

Ecology

These nocturnal jerboas move through its dry desert habitat in long hops, balancing with the tail. They live in burrows generally excavated under small bushes. They feed on wind blown seeds, succulent leaves of desert-adapted vegetation, and various dead animals such as other rodents and lizards; food is raised to the mouth using the hands. As plants dry up, they are often left to dig up roots of desert plants and feast on them. They are omnivores. They undergo a diurnal rhythm of physiological dormancy, when their bodily functions, including respiration and blood circulation, slow down dramatically. This is known as facultative hypothermia and enables the species to survive on a diet of low nutritional value. Two to four young, blind and naked at birth, are born in the spring and summer months. No more than two litters a year are normally produced.^[4]

Predators

The natural predators of the jerboa are the leaf-nosed viper (Eristocophis mcmahoni), the trans-Caspian monitor lizard (Varanus caspius), and the sand cat (Felis margarita).^[4]

See also

• Smallest organisms

References