149.

Zarudny’s Jird

Meriones zarudnyi

French: Mérione de Zarudny / German: Zarudny-Rennratte / Spanish: Gerbillo de Zarudny

Taxonomy. Meriones zarudnyi Heptner, 1937,

Kushka, Turkmenistan.

Meriones zarudnyi was considered a race of M. crassus, but in 1967 D. M. Lay, after studying more specimens from Afghanistan, described its characteristics as distinct from those of both M. crassus and M. tristrami . This opinion was later followed by G. B. Corbet in 1978 and I. Ya. Pavlinov and colleagues in 1990. Monotypic.

Distribution. NE Iran, S Turkmenistan, and N Afghanistan.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 155 mm, tail 160 mm, ear 20 mm, hindfoot 30 mm (single individual). No specific weight data are available. A large Jird with tail longer than head-body. Underbelly white. Upper part of the tail light gray and its lower part yellowish, the tuft ofthe tail is well developed and its proximal part is off-white in both the upper and lower areas and the extremity short, dark brown to maroon dark yellow. The sole of hindfootis hairy and the heel is bare.

Habitat. Not well known, but probably dry and arid habitats.

Food and Feeding. Zarudny’s Jird is probably omnivorous like other members of genus, with preference for seeds and plant material.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Zarudny’s Jird is probably nocturnal and terrestrial, digging burrows.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Corbet (1978), Gromov & Erbajeva (1995), Hassinger (1973), Lay (1967), Pavlinov et al. (1990).