151.

Cheng’s Jird

Meriones chengi

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

Other common names: Cheng's Gerbil

Taxonomy. Meriones chengi Wang Sung, 1964,

Turfan, Da-Ho-Yien, northern Xin-jiang, China.

According to I. Ya. Pavlinov and colleagues in 1990, M. chengi is a member of the M. meridianus species complex. It was separated on basis of morphological characters. Molecular study by M. Ito and colleagues in 2010 found M. chengi specimens collected from near type locality to be very close to M. meridianus individuals collected from southern regions; these authors suggested that M. chengi could be put in synonymy with one unnamed clade of M. meridianus . Similarly, Wang Ying and coworkers in 2013, adding also nuclear genes, found no substantial genetic differentiation between the two species and low genetic distances (0-42%), supporting synonymy of M. chengi and one clade of M. meridianus complex, as implied by Pavlinov and colleagues in 1990 and 1995. Both Ito’s 2010 team and Y. Wang and colleagues in 2013 found high divergence (interspecific level) among clades of M. meridianus but they did not agree in their number and did not propose names for them, nor provide details of the constitution of each. M. chengi is here retained as a valid species pending further morphological and taxonomic revision of the whole species complex. Monotypic.

Distribution. Turpan Basin in E Xinjiang (NW China).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 131-150 mm, tail 88-117 mm, ear 17 mm, hindfoot 31-34 mm. Nospecific data are available for body weight. Cheng’s Jird is a mediumsized jird with dark brown dorsal pelage and pure white venter. Tail is relatively short (75% of head-body length) and endsin tuft of hairs.

Habitat. Mountains regions and semi-desertic areas with xeric grasslands at altitudes above 1000 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Cheng’s Jird is nocturnal and terrestrial, digging burrows usually at base ofshrubs.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Cheng’sJird is a social rodent, living in colonies with many burrows dug at base of shrubs.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concerned on The IUCN Red List despite its small extent of occurrence.

Bibliography. Ito et al. (2010), Pavlinov, Dubrovsky et al. (1990), Pavlinov, Yakhontov & Agadzhanyan (1995), Smith & Yan Xie (2013), Wang Ying et al. (2013).