Dipodidae

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Dipodidae
Temporal range: Late Eocene–Recent [1]
Jaculus orientalis Stuffed specimen 2.jpg
Jaculus orientalis
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Myomorpha
Superfamily: Dipodoidea
Family: Dipodidae
Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
Subfamilies

Allactaginae
Cardiocraniinae
Dipodinae
Euchoreutinae
Sicistinae
Zapodinae

Contents

The Dipodidae, or dipodids, are a family of rodents found across the Northern Hemisphere, the sole family in the superfamily Dipodoidea. This family includes over 50 species among the 16 genera. [2] They include the jerboas, jumping mice, and birch mice. Different species are found in grassland, deserts, and forests. They are all capable of saltation (jumping while in a bipedal stance), a feature that is most highly evolved in the desert-dwelling jerboas.

Characteristics

Dipodids are small to medium-sized rodents, ranging from 4 to 26 cm (1.6 to 10.2 in) in body length, excluding the tail. They are all adapted for jumping, although to varying degrees. The jerboas have very long hind legs which, in most species, include cannon bones. They move either by jumping, or by walking on their hind legs. The jumping mice have long feet, but lack the extreme adaptations of the jerboas, so that they move by crawling or making short hops, rather than long leaps. Both jerboas and jumping mice have long tails to aid their balance. Birch mice have shorter tails and feet, but they, too, move by jumping. [3]

Most dipodids are omnivorous, with a diet consisting of seeds and insects. Some species of jerboa, however, such as Allactaga sibirica , are almost entirely insectivorous. Like other rodents, they have gnawing incisors separated from the grinding cheek teeth by a gap, or diastema. The dental formula for dipodids is:

Dentition
1.0.0-1.3
1.0.0-1.3

Jerboas and birch mice make their nests in burrows, which, in the case of jerboas, may be complex, with side-chambers for storage of food. In contrast, while jumping mice sometimes co-opt the burrows of other species, they do not dig their own, and generally nest in thick vegetation. Most species hibernate for at least half the year, surviving on fat that they build up in the weeks prior to going to sleep. [3]

Dipodids give birth to litters of between two and seven young after a gestation period of between 17 and 42 days. They breed once or twice a year, depending on the species.

Classification

Northern birch mouse (Sicista betulina), Sicistinae Sicista betulina 01.JPG
Northern birch mouse (Sicista betulina), Sicistinae

Family Dipodidae

Related Research Articles

Jerboa Group of rodents

Jerboas are hopping desert rodents found throughout North Africa and Asia, and form the bulk of the membership of the family Dipodidae. They tend to live in hot deserts.

Four-toed jerboa Species of mammal

The four-toed jerboa is a rodent of the family Dipodidae and genus Allactaga that has four digits. It is the sole species in the subgenus Scarturus. Four-toed jerboas are native to Egypt and Libya. They live in coastal salt marshes and dry deserts.

Zapodinae Subfamily of mammals (jumping mice)

Zapodinae, the jumping mice, are a subfamily of mouse-like rodents in North America and China.

<i>Allactaga</i> Genus of mammals

The genus Allactaga contains the four and five-toed jerboas of Asia. They are small mammals belonging to the order of rodents. They are characteristically known as the hopping rodents of the desert and semi-arid regions. They have long hind feet, short forelimbs, and walk upright. They have large ears in comparison to their body size and a large tail. The tail assists and serves as support when the jerboa is standing upright. The jerboa body length ranges from 5–15 cm and has a tail ranging from 7–25 cm. The "forelimbs of the jerboa serve as a pair of hands for feeding, grooming, etc." Jerboas use their nose to burrow and push the dirt when looking for food. The male jerboa is usually larger in size and weight in comparison to the female jerboa. The pelt of the jerboa is either silky or velvety in texture and light in color, the coloration helps camouflage into surroundings to avoid predators. All members of the genus have five toes except for a single species, the Four-toed Jerboa, Allactaga tetradactyla of Northern Africa.

Woodland jumping mouse Species of rodent

The woodland jumping mouse is a species of jumping mouse found in North America. It can jump up to 3 m (9.8 ft) using its extremely strong feet and long tail.

The Iranian jerboa is a rodent of the family Dipodidae and subfamily Allactaginae. They are characteristically known as hopping rodents and have only been found in a small population in Iran. Iranian jerboa are microhabitat specialist, they require a particular environment to provide them with specific conditions suitable for living.

Birch mouse Genus of rodents

Birch mice are small jumping rodents that resemble mice with long, tufted tails and very long hind legs, allowing for remarkable leaps. They are native to Eurasian forests and steppes. All variants possess a long tail of 65 to 110 mm of length and weigh about 6 to 14 g. Head and body length of 50 to 90 mm and hind foot length of 14 to 18 mm. The animal's skin color is light brown or dark-brown to brownish yellow on the upper side and paler on the underside, but generally brownish. Birch mice have a vast geographic distribution in that they inhabit a wide variety of habitats, from semiarid areas to subalpine meadows.

The Gobi jerboa is a species of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It is found in China and Mongolia. Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and temperate desert.

<i>Salpingotus</i> Genus of rodents

Salpingotus is a genus of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It contains the following species:

Allactaginae Subfamily of rodents

Allactaginae is a subfamily of rodents.

Dipodinae Subfamily of rodents

Dipodinae is a subfamily of Dipodidae.

Cardiocraniinae Subfamily of rodents

Cardiocraniinae is a subfamily of rodents in the family Dipodidae, named by the Russian zoologist Boris Stepanovich Vinogradov (1891–1958) in 1925. These jumping rodents are small mammals, less than 20 cm long.

References

  1. ↑ Qian Li; Yan-Xin Gong; Yuan-Qing Wang (2017). "New dipodid rodents from the Late Eocene of Erden Obo (Nei Mongol, China)". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. 29 (5): 692–703. doi:10.1080/08912963.2016.1232406.
  2. ↑ Holden, M.E.; Musser, G.G. (2005). "Family Dipodidae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 871–893. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  3. 1 2 Whitaker, John (1984). Macdonald, D. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals . New York: Facts on File. pp.  682–683. ISBN   0-87196-871-1.
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