155.

Przewalski’s Jird

Brachiones przewalskii

French: Gerbille de Przewalski / German: Przewalski-Rennratte / Spanish: Jerbo de Przewalski

Other common names: Przewalski's Gerbil

Taxonomy. Gerbillus przewalskii Büchner, 1889,

Lob Nor, Xinjiang, China.

Brachiones przewalskii was originally described as a Gerbillus species, but was accorded a new genus of its own by O. Thomas in 1925 on basis of morphological characters. A molecular study by M. Ito and colleagues in 2010 confirmed the validity of the genus and its proximity to some Meriones, an idea previously presented in a morphological study. Monotypic.

Distribution. NW China (Xinjiang, Gansu, and W Nei Mongol).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 67-103 mm, tail 56-78 mm, ear 6-9 mm, hindfoot 22— 24 mm; weight 12-42 g. Przewalski’s Jird is small, with short ears, and with thehindfeet soles covered with hairs. Dorsal pelage is sandy to light yellow, and venteris white. Tail is equal to or slightly shorter (90% on average) than head—body length, with no pencil at the tp. It is characterized by a greatly reduced rostrum and an abnormally wide frontal region of the skull.

Habitat. Deserts and arid regions. Przewalski’s Jird lives in semi-permanent sand dunes with heavy shrub cover ordunes that lie close to wooded areas.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Przewalski’s Jird is terrestrial. It digs relatively simple burrows with an opening of c.4-5 cm in diameter, and descending to a depth of up to 60 cm.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Przewalski’s Jirds live at low densities of population.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Przewalski’s Jird occupies a relatively wide area of distribution.

Bibliography. Corbet (1978), Ito et al. (2010), Pavlinov (2001), Pavlinov et al. (1990), Smith & Yan Xie (2008), Thomas (1925¢).