A small animal with huge ears, long hind limbs and a thin, long, long tail with a black and white tassel - this is what a long-eared jerboa looks like. The animal looks comical in the photographs, and at first glance it is very difficult to understand why it needs such excesses.
Long-eared jerboa: description
It is worth saying that for the first time this mysterious rodent was filmed in 2007 by members of the London expedition led by Dr. Bailey (Zoological Society of London), although as a species it was studied in detail in the twentieth century. One of the goals of the expedition to the Gobi Desert was to study the long-eared jerboa in natural conditions.
The length of his body is a maximum of 9 cm, tail - up to 17 cm, ears - up to 5 cm, foot length - up to 4.5 cm.
Head shape unusual for other jerboas - wedge-shaped, elongated, with a small stigma (like a pig), Eyes wide apart, small.
Wool is soft, thick, high.
Colour: light tan to buff above, may be light to white below.
The tail has the same color along the entire length, the tassel at the end is white-black, not flat like other jerboas, but round.
The front paws are small, their inner toe has a long curved claw.
The hind limbs are long and very narrow. Two lateral fingers are short, three are long in the middle. All fingers have developed hard pads.
Method of movement: exclusively on the hind legs (like a kangaroo). Jumps up to three meters.
Habitat
The rodent was first described in 1890 based on specimens from China. The Mongolian representatives of this species were found much later, first in 1954, and the participants of the joint expeditions of the USSR and Mongolia in the seventies of the last century studied the Mongolian long-eared jerboa in more detail.
Where does this rodent live? His life is spent in the Gobi desert, which consists of a chain of small deserts located in the territories of Mongolia and China.
The climate of this desert is sharply continental - in winter up to minus 55, in summer up to plus 58. The temperature difference, therefore, is 113 degrees (for comparison: at the cold pole in Oymyakon it is less - 112 degrees).
Each of the deserts differs in the composition of the soil (from rocky plateaus to sand dunes), the presence of vegetation (from poor - rare saxaul bushes, to meadow steppes in places where groundwater comes to the surface).
Long-eared jerboa in the Gobi desert has been spotted in sandy areas with low vegetation (saxaul).
According to the latest estimates of scientists who regularly conduct observations, it has been established that theirthe number is extremely low - only 0.5 individuals per hectare of habitat.
Long-eared jerboa: what it eats
Unlike its main relatives, whose food is plants, the animal feeds on insects. He does not drink, getting liquid along with the insect.
Its long ears allow you to hear any vibration in the air at a distance of up to five meters. Vibrissae (long whiskers) smell the insect in flight and under a layer of soil. Long legs provide an exceptional opportunity to overtake an insect very quickly and catch it in a high (up to three meters) jump.
Proportions
When the long-eared jerboa runs (jumps) very fast, its large ears are tightly pressed to the body and reach the tips of the sacrum.
The whiskers (vibrissae) growing on the muzzle are also long, and their tips (if bent back) reach the base of the tail.
The front legs are small, only one-third as long as the back legs.
The tail is almost two to two and a half times the size of the animal itself.
Lifestyle
The long-eared jerboa is nocturnal, due to fairly high daytime temperatures in the desert.
Due to the sharp drop in temperature in winter, these little creatures cannot keep themselves warm, for this they would need to spend a lot of energy and eat very well. They sleep in winter, having previously accumulated enough fat, including along the entire length of the tail.
The long-eared jerboa digs the so-called winter cave,very deep - up to two meters (so as not to freeze), with a long tunnel and a chamber in which he sleeps.
In summer, the rodent digs three types of holes for itself: rescue, daytime and permanent. The depth of rescue - only 20 centimeters, day (for sleep) - 50 centimeters. There is a special approach to permanent burrows: the central passage is inclined, leading to the chamber with supplies and the main one, the spare ones simply end in a dead end. The main chamber, located in the far part of the burrow, is lined by the jerboa with suitable vegetation residues. In case of danger, the animal moves very quickly from the main chamber to the emergency passage, and the entrance to it immediately clogs with a sand plug.
If the animal does not catch prey, it digs minks for itself.
Survival Features
The ears of the long-eared jerboa are not so much long as they are huge (relative to the surface of the body) in area. What for? In the desert in summer, the air can warm up to 50 degrees, and the unusually large network of blood vessels in the ears helps the rodent to cool (in fact, the same as the elephant).
It is interesting that the ears of an awake animal are always in suspense. They fold back when he moves quickly (e.g. running away from danger). And during rest, the ears are soft, their blood supply is reduced.
The long-eared jerboa grows special bristly hairs on its hind legs, which help it to stay on loose sandy soils. And hard pads - make it possible to deftly move around the rocky plateau.
Long tailparticipates in repulsion from the ground during the first jump, in subsequent jumps it is straightened and serves as a kind of rudder when changing direction.
The front short limbs are needed for digging holes, digging up insect larvae, and the wedge-shaped (piggy) nose helps in these activities. With its front paws, the rodent holds prey, makes plugs for holes.
Long-eared rodent and the environment
Jerboa adjusts the number of insects in its range. Although the small study of animals does not allow us to say the opposite with certainty.
According to the observations of English zoologists, the long-eared jerboa can carry tularemia and plague.
Helicobacter pylori was found in the faeces of rodents, and this is a direct threat to human he alth.
Domestication of long-eared 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 hibernation, the females are ready to mate. One individual can bear and feed from two to six babies. Due to the small number and difficulty of tracking, it has not yet been established how many times a long-eared rodent produces offspring in a lifetime. Some scientists draw a parallel with similar subspecies, arguing that the aforementioned rodent lives from two to three years and brings offspring several times. According to others, the rodent breeds only once in a lifetime, and lives up to six years.
Females can theoretically fully feed eight babies, havingthe same number of nipples arranged in two rows.
This is interesting
Long-eared jerboa is listed in the Red Book of Mongolia. Recent and ongoing observations in the Gobi desert confirm the small number of these rodents, but do not establish a trend towards complete extinction.
Rodent is cinematic, cute, charming. Interest in him is constantly growing. The long-eared jerboa, the photo of which is posted in this article, is even compared with Mickey Mouse.
