Meriones (Pallasiomys) chengi Wang 1964

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1235

Meriones (Pallasiomys) chengi Wang 1964

Meriones (Pallasiomys) chengi Wang 1964 , Acta Zootaxon. Sinica, 1: 9.

Type Locality: China, N Xinjiang (Sinkiang), Da-Ho-Yien, Turfan.

Vernacular Names: Cheng's Jird.

Distribution: Recorded from several localities in a small area of N Xinjiang (see Wang, 2003, and Zhang et al., 1997).

Conservation: IUCN – Critically Endangered.

Discussion: Subgenus Pallasiomys . Wang (1964) considered this species, based on a series of adult and immature specimens, to be most closely related to M. meridianus , which also occurs in Xinjiang Province ( Ma et al., 1987). Pavlinov et al. (1990, 1995 a) questionably included chengi in the synonymy of M. meridianus . The relationship of chengi to the latter species needs to be assessed by revision of Meriones , especially the M. meridianus complex.