Dunn's gerbil (''Gerbillus dunni'') is a rodent species distributed mainly in

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

and

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

. It is an animal of dry grassland and rocky plains. It is also sometimes called the "Somalia gerbil", not to be confused with the Somalian gerbil or the Somali gerbil. Dunn's gerbil was first described by the British zoologist

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...

as ''Gerbillus dunni'' in 1904. Its

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is discerned by de ...

is 2n=74. Its natural habitat is not under threat and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

Description

Dunn's gerbil is one of eight very similar species of gerbil native to northeastern Africa, the others being Berbera gerbil (''G. acticola''), Brockman's gerbil (''G. brockmani''), cushioned gerbil (''G. pulvinatus''), Harwood's gerbil (''G. harwoodi''), least gerbil (''G. pusillus''), Somalian gerbil (''G. somalicus''), and Waters's gerbil (''G. watersi''). Dunn's gerbil can be distinguished from the others by the hairy soles to its hind feet. The head-and-body length is about and the tail . The mass is about .

Distribution

Dunn's gerbil is native to the Horn of Africa. Its range includes Eritrea, Djibouti, eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia. Its typical habitat is bare or scantily-vegetated, rocky plains, dry grassland and dry

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

Status

Dunn's gerbil is present in a large area of suitable habitat. No particular threats have been identified and the population is believed to be steady, and although it is seldom seen, its population is presumed to be large. The

has rated its conservation status as being of "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q306916 Gerbillus Rodents of Africa Mammals of Djibouti Mammals of Ethiopia Mammals of Somalia Mammals described in 1904 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas