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Least Gerbil

Gerbillus pusillus

French: Gerbille de Peters / German: \Winzige Rennmaus / Spanish: Gerbillo minimo

Other common names: Percival’s Gerbil, Peter's Gerbil

Taxonomy. Gerbillus pusillus Peters, 1878, Ndi and Kitui, Kenya.

According to J. Roche in 1975, F. Petter in 1975, I. Ya. Pavlinov and colleagues in 1990, and G. G. Musser and M. D. Carleton in 2005, G. pusillus comprised three different forms which were placed in synonymy. D. M. Lay in 1983, however, considered that “ G. diminutus ” belonged to G. percivali and “ G. ruberrimus ” to G. pusillus . D. C. D. Happold in 2013 resurrected G. percivali, but this treatment was not followed by A. Monadjem and colleagues in 2015 owing to lack of data and absence of taxonomic study of eastern African Gerbils. Monotypic.

Distribution. Ethiopia, SE South Sudan, W Kenya, SW Somalia, and NC Tanzania.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 54-77 mm, tail 82-115 mm, ear 9-11 mm, hindfoot 18-21 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Karyotype 2n = 34. The Least Gerbil, a small species, has long, soft dark rusty-brown dorsal pelage and a pure white ventral one well delimited from flanks. Very long tail (160% of head-body length) is paler below and ends with conspicuous pencil of russet-brown to black long hairs. Soles of hindfeet are naked. Tympanic bullae represent 37% of maximum length of skull.

Habitat. Least Gerbilinhabits Somali-Masai savannas, and in coastal Somalia was found in steppe habitats and in South Sudan in grasslands on sandy soils. In Omo valley (Ethiopia) it was trapped in bottom areas and also in higher-lying arid zones away from rivers where open shrubs, including spurges ( Euphorbiaceae), Adenium obesum ( Apocynaceae), Cissus rotundifolia (Vitaceae), Dasysphaera prostrata ( Amaranthaceae), Commiphora africana (Burseraceae), Adenia venenata ( Passifloraceae), Caralluma russelliana ( Asclepiadaceae), Sesamothamnus busseanus ( Pedaliaceae), and Maerua crassifolia (Capparaceae), and rare herbaceous plants from legume and sedge families were growing.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Least Gerbil is probably nocturnal, and terrestrial, digging burrows.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red Last.

Bibliography. Capanna & Merani (1981), Dieterlen & Nikolaus (1985), Happold (2013a), Hubert (1978b), Lay (1983), Monadjem et al. (2015), Musser & Carleton (2005), Pavlinov et al. (1990), Petter (1975a), Roche (1975).