Cricetus cricetus (Linnaeus 1758)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 1043

Cricetus cricetus (Linnaeus 1758)

[Mus] cricetus Linnaeus 1758 , Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 60 .

Type Locality: Germany.

Vernacular Names: Common Hamster.

Synonyms: Cricetus albus Fitzinger 1867 ; Cricetus babylonicus Nehring 1903 ; Cricetus canescens Nehring 1899 ; Cricetus frumentarius Pallas 1811 ; Cricetus fulvus (Bechstein 1801) ; Cricetus fuscidorsis Argyropulo 1932 ; Cricetus fuscidorsis Argyropulo 1936 ; Cricetus germanicus ( Kerr 1792) ; Cricetus jeudii (Gray 1873) ; Cricetus latycranius Ognev 1923 ; Cricetus nehringi Matschie 1901 ; Cricetus niger Fitzinger 1867 ; Cricetus niger Bogdanov 1871 ; Cricetus niger (Simroth 1906) ; Cricetus nigricans (Lacépède 1799) ; Cricetus polychroma Krulikovski 1916 ; Cricetus rufescens Nehring 1899 ; Cricetus stavropolicus Satunin 1907 ; Cricetus tauricus Ognev 1924 ; Cricetus tomensis Ognev 1924 ; Cricetus varius Fitzinger 1867 ; Cricetus vulgaris Geoffroy 1803 .

Distribution: Belgium across C Europe, W Siberia, and N Kazakhstan to the upper Yenesei and Altai region and NW China ( NW Xinjiang; Wang, 2003; Zhang et al., 1997); see Mitchell-Jones et al. (1999) for former European range.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Mitchell-Jones et al. (1999) recounted the drastic reduction in W Europe due to persecution and hunting. Other regional taxonomic synopses and chronicles of the species’ decline are available for the Netherlands ( Lenders and Pelzers, 1982; Pelzers and Lenders, 1992), Sumava Mtns of SW Bohemia (Andĕra and Červený, 1994), Northrhine-Westphalia in Germany ( Hutterer and Geiger-Roswora, 1997), Slovakia (Mošanský, 1994; Stanko and Mošanský, 2000), Slovenia (Kryštufek, 1991), Serbia and Montenegro ( Petrov, 1992), and Czech Republic (Šmaha, 1996). Morphological variability among European samples evaluated by Grulich (1987 a, b, 1991, and references therein). Recent reports emphasize conservation status and reintroduction attempts for various European countries ( Godmann and Kasabi, 2001; Hellwig, 2001; Jordan, 2001; Losinger, 2001; Mercelis, 2001; Schreiber, 2001; Ulbrich and Kayser, 2001). Once present in the British Isles during the Pleistocene ( Kowalski, 1967; Yalden, 1999). For synonyms see Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951:629).