Jerboas (photo): Frisky jumpers with long tails

Classification

Latin name: Dipodidae

Highest classification: Dipodoidea

Rank: Family

Class: Mammals

Detachment: Rodents

Kingdom: Animals

A type: Chordates

Suborder: Mouse-like

How other animals adapt to environment, written in the article

Jerboas are capable of speeds up to 40 km / h. Their run is accompanied by three-meter jumps, and this distance exceeds the length of the animal's body by 20 times. The paws of these animals are quite remarkable and the hind limbs of some species are twice the length of their spine.

Habitat

The jerboa is common in areas with hot and temperate climate... Their habitat covers Mongolia and North Africa, Central, Minor and Western Asia, Kazakhstan and the south of Eastern Europe, as well as an area stretching from northeastern China to southern Siberia.

Most of the varieties of jerboas are adapted to living conditions in the desert and semi-desert, and only a few of them can live in the steppe, similarly, in the forest zone and in the mountains, located at a distance of 2 km above sea level.

Burrow device

Upland, long-eared, and large jerboa are all tireless workers. They constantly dig holes, which can be conditionally divided into 4 main types:

  • rescue, the depth of which reaches 20 cm;
  • daytime - up to half a meter long;
  • permanent - with the main inclined passage and spare ones, which are blind, their animal lays very close to the surface;
  • wintering rooms are equipped in a special way - they have storage rooms where the steppe animal hides supplies, and a wintering chamber, which is located at a depth of about 2 meters.

Interesting! When someone starts to dig a permanent hole, the jerboa will immediately hide in one of the spare, tightly closing its roof!

The jerboa lives in a separate chamber, which is located in the far part of the burrow. He lines his nest with small grass

The meaning of the jerboa

For the desert biocenosis, jerboas are very important. In the course of their life, these rodents affect the vegetation and soil in their habitat.

These animals have many natural enemies, among them, for which they are a food source.

But the role of the jerboa is not always exclusively positive. They are capable of doing harm by destroying vegetation that strengthens the sands, and damaging the crops of cultivated plantations.

Since the jerboa looks pretty cute, it is difficult to assume that it is capable of becoming the causative agent of such a dangerous disease as the plague.

And this is not the only disease carried by this steppe animal.

Food

Jerboas feed mainly on vegetation. They use seeds and rhizomes, which are previously dug out of the soil, leaving noticeable holes in their place.

Depending on the place of residence and conditions, this animal can feed on insects and their larvae.

The jerboa eats about 60 g of various foods per day

It is noteworthy that he does not drink water, the animal receives liquid from plants. The rodent makes very long foraging passages and can cover a distance of 11 km in one night for saturation.

Reproduction

In spring and summer, jerboas breed. In one year, the female is able to bring from 1 to 3 litters, each of which has from 1 to 8 babies.

The gestation period lasts about 25-42 days. The female always gives birth in a burrow in an individual nest.

Cubs are born blind and look like newborn rats.

When the body weight of a small jerboa reaches 200 g, it begins to gradually move to an independent life.

The babies are under the care of the mother for quite a long time - about 1.5 months. During this period, they grow up and gain weight up to 125 g. The cubs emerge from the burrow fully formed, but they move a little more awkwardly.

Young jerboas are quite friendly and get along well next to each other. But upon reaching three months, aggression begins to be traced in their behavior. This pushes the young to resettlement.

Unlike, for example, proteins, domestication is stressful for the jerboa. They take a very long and hard time to get used to the conditions of captivity and to humans.

These animals are very difficult to make contact. This behavior is due to the fact that such a rodent prefers to lead a nocturnal lifestyle, and having become a pet, he has to be active during the day.

And even in the case when a connection is established between a person and an animal, the latter still remains wild

The domestic jerboa needs space to stay active. Important for him exercise stress and a person must take this into account. If this condition is neglected, then the animal will experience discomfort, which will lead to physical inactivity and even death.

A home jerboa should prepare a large aviary, and not only long and wide enough, but also high so that it can jump.

It is highly undesirable to put plastic objects in the nest, the same goes for the pallet. Otherwise, the animal will gnaw it with its sharp teeth and flee.

Several individuals cannot be kept in one cell at once, since a conflict will certainly arise between them. It is advisable to lay a bed of turf and sand at the bottom of the aviary. Hard bottoms can cause injury.

In the cage of a home jerboa, there should always be vegetation: dry grass, roots, small brushwood. Of these, he will build his nest, as is usually the case in the wild.

Sod litter in the aviary is needed by the jerboa so that it can dig holes, even small ones. Otherwise, the animal may experience stress, which will develop into a nervous breakdown.

The domestic jerboa is not allowed to leave the cage - at the slightest opportunity it will certainly escape.

The diet of this steppe animal must contain special cereals, cereals, fruits and vegetables: sunflower seeds, potatoes, dandelion roots and leaves, apples, pears, melon seeds, beets.

In winter, thin shoots of maple, willow and aspen should be thrown into the aviary. Insects supplement the diet: butterflies, crickets and mealworms.

Jerboas: Frisky Long-Tailed Hoppers

Jerboas are the only rodents that move exclusively on their hind legs. Surprisingly, these mammals walk like humans, alternately leaning on each leg.

A desert biome is a collection of hot and arid terrestrial biomes on the planet. It includes habitats receiving negligible rainfall, typically less than 500 mm per year. The desert biome covers almost 1/5 of the Earth's surface and affects various regions of the world. Depending on the geographic location, climate, aridity and air temperature distinguish 4 main types of deserts: arid, semi-arid, coastal and cold deserts.

Although deserts are inherently very diverse, they are united by some general characteristics... The daily temperature fluctuations in desert regions are much more extreme than the daily temperature changes in more humid climates. The reason for this is that humid air buffers day and night temperatures, avoiding sudden changes. But dry desert air heats up easily and quickly during the day, and also cools down quickly at night. Low humidity in deserts also means that there is no cloud cover that traps heat.

Rainfall in deserts is also unique. When in dry areas it's raining, precipitation often falls in a relatively short period of time, and is separated by long periods of drought. In some arid deserts, raindrops sometimes evaporate before falling to the ground. Soils in deserts have little weathering, rough texture and good drainage.

Perfectly adapted to the arid conditions in which they live. Most of the desert flora are low in height and have tough leaves that save water. Typical plants in the desert biome include yuccas, agaves, shrubs and cacti.

Key features

Below are the key characteristics of the desert biome:

  • little precipitation (less than 500 mm per year);
  • significant difference between day and night temperatures;
  • high evaporation rate;
  • loose soils;
  • drought-resistant vegetation.

Classification

\u003e Desert Biome

The desert biome is divided into the following habitats:

  • Arid deserts are hot, dry regions found in low latitudes around the world. The air temperature in arid deserts is warm all year roundalthough it is hotter in summer. Precipitation is very low and often the evaporation rate exceeds moisture. Arid deserts are found in North America, Central America, South America, Africa, South Asia and Australia. These include the deserts: Sonora, Mojave, Sahara and Kalahari.
  • Semi-arid deserts are regions of the world with less hot and dry climates than arid deserts. They are characterized by long hot summers and relatively cool winters with little rainfall. Semi-arid deserts are found in North America, Newfoundland, Greenland, Europe and Asia.
  • Coastal deserts are commonly found in the western parts of the continents at levels between latitude 23 ° N and latitude 23 ° S (also known as the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn). In these regions, cold ocean currents run parallel to the coast and produce heavy fogs that drift over the deserts. Although the humidity of coastal deserts can be high, precipitation remains fairly low. Examples of coastal deserts include the Atacama Desert (Chile) and the Namib Desert (Namibia).
  • Cold deserts - deserts that have low temperatures and long winters. They are found in the Arctic, Antarctic and above the mountain-forest belt. Many areas of the tundra biome can also be classified as cold deserts. This type of desert is characterized by a higher amount of precipitation than the previous three. The Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia is a classic example of a cold desert.

Animal world

Some of the animals that inhabit the desert biome are:

  • Desert Kangaroo Jumper (Dipodomys deserti) is a rodent species of the genus kangaroo jumpers that lives in the deserts of southwestern North America, including the Sonoran, Mojave, and Great Basin deserts. The diet of Desert Kangaroo Jumpers mainly consists of plant seeds.
  • Coyote (Canis latrans) is a carnivorous canine that inhabits a wide range of habitats throughout North and Central America. Coyotes are found in deserts, grasslands, and prairies throughout their range. The coyote hunts a variety of small animals such as rabbits, rodents, lizards, deer, elk, birds, and snakes.
  • California ground cuckoo (Geococcyx californianus) is a bird from the cuckoo family that lives throughout the year in the deserts and semi-deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. They are fast-footed birds capable of overtaking humans and using this speed, along with a strong beak, to capture prey, which includes lizards, small mammals and birds.
  • Colorado toad (Incilius alvarius) - a species of toads that inhabits semi-deserts, shrubs and grasslands of southern Arizona at an altitude below 1700 meters above sea level. With a body length of more than 17 cm, this is one of the most large species toads native to North America. The Colorado Toad is nocturnal and is most active during the monsoon season. During drier periods of the year, toads remain underground in the burrows of rodents and other animals.