The four-toed jerboa (''Scarturus tetradactylus'') is a rodent of the family

Dipodidae Jerboas () are the members of the family Dipodidae. They are hopping desert rodents found throughout North Africa and Asia. They tend to live in hot deserts. When chased, jerboas can run at up to . Some species are preyed on by little owls ('' ...

and genus ''

Scarturus ''Scarturus'' is a genus of rodent in the family Dipodidae Jerboas () are the members of the family Dipodidae. They are hopping desert rodents found throughout North Africa and Asia. They tend to live in hot deserts. When chased, jerboas can ...

'' that has four digits. Four-toed jerboas are native to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. They live in coastal

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

es and dry

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

Physical appearance

Similar to the other jerboas in the genera ''

Allactaga The genus ''Allactaga'' contains the 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, shor ...

'' and ''Scarturus'', the four-toed jerboa are small hopping rodents with large ears and a long tail, with a black band near the white, feathery tip. The tail assists and serves as support when the jerboa is standing upright. They have long hind feet and short forelegs. The

pelt A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

of the four-toed jerboa is velvety in texture and the upper-parts are speckled black and orange, the rump orange, and the sides gray. The four-toed jerboa hind-limbs have one digit less than other jerboas in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Allactaginae, but one more hind digit than other jerboas. The extra digit is smaller in size and nonfunctional compared to the other three digits.

Nutrition

Emerging at night, the four-toed jerboa eats grass, leaves, and soft seeds. The low crown molars and soft palates help the four-toed jerboa chew plant material and seeds. The four-toed jerboa is a host of the

acanthocephala Acanthocephala ( Greek , ' 'thorn' + , ' 'head') is a group of parasitic worms known as acanthocephalans, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an eversible proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses t ...

n intestinal parasite '' Moniliformis aegyptiacus''.

Conservation status

The four-toed jerboa was listed as on the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

. They are at very high risk of extinction due to habitat loss and restricted range.

References

Dipodidae Mammals of the Middle East Rodents of North Africa Mammals described in 1823 Taxa named by Hinrich Lichtenstein {{rodent-stub