140.

Libyan Jird

Meriones libycus

French: Mérione de Lybie / German: Libyen-Rennratte / Spanish: Gerbillo de Libia

Other common names: Asiatic Hairy-footed Gerbil

Taxonomy. Meriones libycus Lichtenstein, 1823,

“deserto libyco [= Libian desert].”

F. Petter in 1961 did not recognize any subspecies in M. libycus with single exception of giant Mesopotamian form syrius . The species was revised by G. B. Corbet in 1978 and by I. Ya. Pavlinov and colleagues in 1990. Molecular analysis by M. Ito and colleagues in 2010 found M. libycus to be sister species to clade constituted by M. rex and M. crassus . Subspecific taxonomy requires reassessment.

Distribution. N Africa from Morocco, Western Sahara, and extreme N Mauritania E through Algeria (High Plains and Hoggar and Tassili Mts), S Tunisia, and N Libya to Egypt (W of Nile River), Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Arabian Peninsula, Transcaucasia, Iran (except Elburz Mts and Caspian coastal plain), and from S Kazakhstan and NW China (Xinjiang) S to Afghanistan and Pakistan (S Waziristan and Balochistan); it may occur in Turkey (S Anatolia).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 123-170 mm, tail 115-190 mm, ear 15-22 mm, hindfoot 32-41 mm; weight 60-140 g. Females bear eight mammae. A medium-sized jird, the Libyan Jird has tawny-gray dorsum and white venter. Soles of hindfeet are partially hairy, and claws black. Tail is of about the same length as combined head-body length (c.100%) and terminates in conspicuous black tuft. Tympanic bullae are inflated and represent 33-39% of maximum length of skull. Asiatic individuals are presumably larger than those in Africa. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 44, FN = 74.

Habitat. Libyan Jirds prefer low-lying areas in arid and semiarid areas (steppes, semideserts, deserts) with compact and hard soil. They avoid mountain slopes and rocky regions. They require sparse and bushy vegetation, such as tamarisk (7amarix, Tamaricaceae), palm, or acacia ( Acacia, Fabaceae) groves. They may be found also in “wadis” (ephemeral riverbeds) and “dayas” (seasonally flooded basins), and have been recorded as thriving in sandy soils in Jordan and Algeria; in Syria they were captured in semiarid places with dense vegetation and dominance of Anabasis syriaca (Amaranthaceae) . In upland regions of Pakistan, the Libyan Jird lives in valleys and low-lying areas and avoids slopes or rockyelevations, which are preferred by the Persian Jird ( M. persicus). In these lowland areas of Balochistan, the Libyan Jird is associated with tamarisk in

sandy floodplains or edges of cultures in broader valleys. The species may be found at up to 2300 m altitude.

Food and Feeding. Libyan Jirds are granivorous and herbivorous. Seeds and grasses, cereals, fruit seeds, rhizomes, bulbs, and succulent plants are favored, and these are stored in burrows. In Pakistan, this jird has been seen to eat seeds of grasses such as Chrysopogon, young shoots of Bromus (both Poaceae), and green parts of leguminous shrubs ( Sophora mollis, Fabaceae, and Lycium barbarum, Solanaceae), as well as Allium (Amaryllidaceae), Scilla (Asparagaceae), and Tulipa (Liliaceae) bulbs. Libyan Jirds require very limited amounts of water. They bring to their burrows various other vegetable matter, as well as seeds and grain; a single cache weighing as much as 30 kg was found stored in nest chamber in Turkmenistan.

Breeding. Libyan Jirds breed throughout year. Females may bear 3-13 embryos, gestation period is 24 days, and each litter contains 2-7 offspring (average 2-8). Young are born naked and blind, hairs appear after four days, eyes open between day 12 and day 17. Sexual maturity is reached at three months.

Activity patterns. Although generally nocturnal, the Libyan Jird may be diurnal in north-western China. Itis terrestrial, digging burrows in ephemeral riverbeds (“wadis”) and in “sebkas” (shallow depressions) where small bushes are present. In Pakistan it feeds during dayand signals danger with foot-drumming. Burrows are established at base of small bushes and on small hills, generally Ziziphus jujuba (Rhamnaceae) bush being selected for burrow location. Burrows have large diameter of c¢.10 m, and have 2-8 entrances with tunnels leading to at least one food-storage room of ¢.30 cm diameter situated 1-5 m below surface. There may be two systems of sinuous galleries connected by a single tunnel with 25% declivity.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Libyan Jirds live in small groups but not sharing same burrows. In China, they may occupy same habitat and burrows as Great Gerbil ( Rhombomys opimus) and may live in large groups of 25-30 individuals during winter. In captivity, individuals are not aggressive. The species is mobile and changes burrow frequently or migrates when environmental conditions deteriorate. In Hazarganji-Chiltan National Park (Pakistan), males shown to have larger home range diameters than females (44-9 m vs. 39-9 m). In Turkmenistan these ranges may be larger, up to 120 m. In regions with colder climate, the animals are able to enter torpor during winter.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Libyan Jird is relatively abundant. In Iran, dense populations are present close to agricultural areas. In Balochistan and Arabia, the species can do considerable damage to crops (lucerne, tomato, potato). In cerealfields of Central Asia, too, these rodents are pests: it has been calculated that they can remove up to 20% of vegetation from pastures.

Bibliography. Amr (2000), Atallah(1978), Aulagnier & Thévenot (1986), Bray et al. (2014), Corbet (1978), Ito et al. (2010), Krystufek & Vohralik (2009), Lay (1967), Osborn & Helmy (1980), Pavlinov et al. (1990), Qumsiyeh (1996), Qumsiyeh et al. (1986), Petter (1961c), Roberts (1977), Scott & Dunstone (2000), Smith & Yan Xie (2013).