133.

Indian Hairy-footed Gerbil

Gerbillus gleadowi

French: Gerbille de Gleadow / German: Indien-HaarfuR-Rennmaus / Spanish: Gerbillo de pies peludos de India

Other common names: Little Hairy-footed Gerbil

Taxonomy. Gerbillus gleadow: Murray, 1886,

“Beruto, 15 miles [= 24 km] S.W. of Reh, in the Mirpur Drahrki Taluka of the Rohri district in Upper Sind,” Pakistan .

Member of Gerbillus subgenus, G. gleadowi was confirmed as a species by morphological and cytogenetic analyses undertaken by D. M. Lay and C. F. Nadler in 1975, an opinion followed by I. Ya. Pavlinov and colleagues in 1990, T. J. Roberts in 1997, and G. G.Musser and M. D. Carleton in 2005. Monotypic.

Distribution. Indus Valley of Pakistan (Punjab and Sindh) and NW India (Rajasthan and Gujarat).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 75-102 mm, tail 118-150 mm, ear 11-14 mm, hindfoot 26-32 mm; weight 20-28 g. The Indian Hairy-footed Gerbil is a medium-sized gerbil with hairy soles. Dorsal pelage is of a pale reddish-buff or biscuit color, while ventral pelage is pure white. Tail is long (150% of head-body length), paler ventrally, and bears a gray-brown pencil at tip. White patches of hairs are present behind ears and eyes. Skull displays enlarged tympanic bullae. Females have four pairs of mammae. Chromosomal complement has: 2n = 50-51 and FN = 72-73, with X, Y1, Y2 sex chromosomes in male (Pakistan).

Habitat. Sandy regions of Thar Desert (peculiarly, in places where annual rainfall lower than 100 mm), including sandy areas along east bank of Indus River. The Indian Hairy-footed Gerbil is found more exactly in places with shifting dunes and Tamarix aphylla (Tamaricaceae) and Calligonum polygonoides ( Polygonaceae) bushes.

Food and Feeding. Indian Hairy-footed Gerbils are omnivorous, feeding on insects (crickets and ants), seeds, and succulent leaves they forage at night and may store

food in burrows. They have evolved the ability to concentrate urine, allowing them to survive in areas with little water.

Breeding. Reproduction is not well known, but seems to occur after monsoon season. Litter size is 2-5.

Activity patterns. The Indian Hairy-footed Gerbil is nocturnal, and terrestrial, digging burrows. Entrance of burrows is situated in sand hummock close to roots of plants. Gerbils have a quadrupedal gait, and when stressed and frightened they run fast and also hop on their hindlegs. Captive individuals could leap 61 cm and reach nearly 1 m vertically in one hop.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Indian Hairy-footed Gerbils probably live in small colonies.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Indian Hairy-footed Gerbil never enters cultivated fields and seems restricted to sandy areas. No major threats are indicatedother than possible future construction works and overgrazing.

Bibliography. Lay & Nadler (1975), Musser & Carleton (2005), Pavlinov etal. (1990), Roberts (1997).