The gerbil leaf-eared mouse (''Phyllotis gerbillus'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family

Cricetidae The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, muskrats, and New World rats and mice. At over 870 species, it is either the largest or second-largest family ...

. It is found only in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It has been discovered that ''P. amicus'' and ''P. gerbillius'' are closely related as sister species. However, ''P. gerbilllius'' belongs to the clade ''Phyllotis'', which contains ''amicus'', ''andium'', ''and gerbellius'' while ''wolffsohni'' belongs to ''Tapecomys''. Measurements of 35 ''P. gerbillus'' adults were as follows; total length of 83.2 ± 0.72 (77-96 in ); tail 78.1 ± 1.13 (62-90 in); greatest length of skull, 23.44 ± 0.09 (22.2 - 24.5 in); zygomatic breadth, 12.32 ± 0.04 (11.7 -13.0 in) and weight, 17.37 ± 0.50 (14-25). This data excluded pregnant females.

References

*Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Phyllotis Mammals of Peru Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Mammals described in 1900 {{Phyllotis-stub