10 genera in 5 subfamilies A jerboa is a small jumping desert rodent of Asia and northern Africa that resembles a mouse with a long tufted tail and very long hind legs. The small forelegs are not used for locomotion. In general, Asiatic jerboas have five toes on their hind feet and African jerboas have three; the shapes of their ears vary widely between species. Jerboa fur is long, soft and silky. Diet varies considerably: some are specialist seed, insect, or plant eaters, others are omnivores.

The ancestors of the modern jerboas probably separated from the more generalised rodents about 8 million years ago on the arid plains of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and then spread to Europe and northern Africa. With the exception of Europe, where they died out, this remains their current range.

Their ability to hop is presumed to be an adaptation to help them escape from predators, and perhaps to assist with the longer journeys a desert-living animal must make to find food. It is interesting to note that although jerboas are not closely related to the hopping mice of Australia or the kangaroo rats of North America, all three groups have evolved a similar set of adaptations to life in the deep desert.

Jerboas are nocturnal. During the heat of the day, they shelter in burrows. Between them, the 30-odd species make four separate types of burrow: two temporary, and two permanent. The temporary burrows are plain tubes: those used to escape from predators during the night are just 10 to 20 cm deep, unsealed and not camouflaged; the temporary daytime burrows are well-hidden and sealed with a plug of sand to keep heat out and moisture in, and are 20 to 50 cm long.

Permanent burrows are also sealed and camouflaged, and often have multiple entrances. They are much more elaborate structures with a nesting chamber. The winter burrows have food storage chambers 40 to 70 cm below ground level, ad a hibernation chamber an astonishing 1.5 to 2.5 metres down.

Perhaps the best-known species is the Lesser Egyptian Jerboa (Jaculus jaculus) which occupies some of the most hostile desert on the planet. It does not drink at all, relying on its food to provide enough moisture for survival. Found in both the sandy and stony deserts of north Africa, Arabia and Iran, this small creature aestivates (a form of hibernation) during the hottest summer months, and has the ability to leap a full metre to escape a predator.

Classification

• ORDER RODENTIA
• Family Dipodidae
  • Subfamily Zapodinae: jumping mice, 4 species in 3 genera
  • Subfamily Sicistinae: birchmice, 13 species in one genus
  • Subfamily Cardiocraniinae
    • Five-toed Pygmy Jerboa , Cardiocranius paradoxus
    • Thick-tailed Pygmy Jerboa , Salpingotus crassicauda
    • Heptner's Pygmy Jerboa , Salpingotus heptneri
    • Koslov's Pygmy Jerboa , Salpingotus kozlovi
    • Baluchistan Pygmy Jerboa , Salpingotus michaelis
    • Pallid Pygmy Jerboa , Salpingotus pallidus
    • Thomas' Pygmy Jerboa , Salpingotus thomasi
  • Subfamily Dipodinae
    • Northern three-toed Jerboa , Dipus sagitta
    • Lichtenstein's Jerboa , Eremodipus lichensteini
    • Blanford's Jerboa , Jaculus blanfordi
    • Lesser Egyptian Jerboa , Jaculus jaculus
    • Greater Egyptian Jerboa , Jaculus orientalis
    • Turkmen Jerboa , Jaculus turcmenicus
    • Andrew's Three-toed Jerboa , Stylodius andrewsi
    • Mongolian Three-toed Jerboa , Stylodius sungorus
    • Thick-tailed Three-toed Jerboa , Stylodius telum
  • Subfamily Paradipodinae
    • Long-eared Jerboa , Euchoreutes naso
  • Subfamily Allactaginae
    • Balikun Jerboa , Allactaga balikunica
    • Gobi Jerboa , Allactaga bullata
    • Small Five-toed Jerboa , Allactaga elater
    • Euphrates Jerboa , Allactaga euphratica
    • Iranian Jerboa , Allactaga firouzi
    • Hotson's Jerboa , Allactaga hotsoni
    • Great Jerboa , Allactaga major
    • Severtzov's Jerboa , Allactaga severtzovi
    • Mongolian Five-toed Jerboa , Allactaga sibirica
    • Four-toed Jerboa, Allactaga tetradactyla
    • Vinogradov's Jerboa , Allactaga vinogradovi
    • Bobrinski's Jerboa , Allactodipus bobrinskii
    • Lesser Fat-tailed Jerboa , Pygeretmus platyurus
    • Dwarf Fat-tailed Jerboa , Pygeretmus pumilo
    • Greater Fat-tailed Jerboa , Pygeretmus shitkovi
  • Subfamily Euchoreutinae
    • Comb-toed Jerboa , Paradipus ctenodactylus