Gerbillus dunni, Thomas, 1904
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6887260 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6868209 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1E30E275-3400-FFB1-E162-2DEF755685BC |
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treatment provided by |
Carolina |
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scientific name |
Gerbillus dunni |
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Dunn’s Gerbil
French: Gerbille de Dunn / German: Dunn-Rennmaus / Spanish: Gerbillo de Dunn
Other common names: Bilen Gerbil, Somalia Gerbil
Taxonomy. Gerbillus dunni Thomas, 1904 View in CoL ,
“Gerlogobi,” Somaliland (= Somalia). Cor- rected by D. C. D. Happold in 2013 to East Ethiopia .
Gerbillus dunni was initially considered a valid species by F. Petter in 1975, D. M. Lay in 1983, and G. G. Musser and M. D. Carleton in 2005. Some authors considered it a form of G. pyramidum or G. latastei , but it is easily distinguished by its morphological and chromosomal characters. Monotypic.
Distribution. Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia). View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 93-102 mm, tail 130-143 mm, ear 13-15 mm, hindfoot 29-31 mm; weight 34-41 g. Dunn’s Gerbil is a medium-sized gerbil with sandybrown dorsal pelage, pure white belly, and hairy soles. Tail is long (137% of head-body length) and bicolored, with very light pencil of hairs at tip. Diploid numberis 2n = 74. Tympanic bullae are inflated (32% of maximum length ofskull).
Habitat. Steppe and dry savanna habitats (sandy areas on bare, or sparsely vegetated, rocky plains, low grasslands) near coasts.
Food and Feeding. No information.
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. Nocturnal, and terrestrial, digging burrows.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCNRed List, butstill seems poorly known and data deficient. The speciesis rare and known from few specimens.
Bibliography. Capanna & Merani (1981), Happold (2013a), Lay (1983), Musser & Carleton (2005), Pearch et al. (2001), Petter (1975a), Yalden et al. (1976).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
