The Turkish hamster (''Mesocricetus brandti''), also referred to as Brandt's hamster, Azerbaijani hamster, or ''avurtlak'', is a species of hamster native to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

and other surrounding nations. The Turkish hamster, first catalogued in 1878, is a fairly close relative of the Syrian or

golden hamster The golden hamster or Syrian hamster (''Mesocricetus auratus'') is a rodent belonging to the hamster subfamily, Cricetinae. Their natural geographical range is in an arid region of northern Syria and southern Turkey. Their numbers have been ...

, though far less is known about it, and it is rarely kept as a pet. The population of the Turkish hamster is said to be declining in the wild, yet this hamster is often used in laboratory testing. Turkish hamsters have lifespans of about two years and are solitary,

nocturnal Nocturnality is an ethology, animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have ...

animals, which practice hibernation. They are reported to be more aggressive than other members of 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 almost 608 species, it is the second-largest family of mammals, a ...

. They are tan and dark, sandy brown in color. Like all hamsters, the Turkish hamster has cheek pouches that allow it to carry large amounts of food at one time.

Habitat and behavior

Hamsters are found in the wild throughout Europe and Asia and are considered to be extremely adaptable, living in scrublands, sand dunes, desert steppes and farmlands. The land where the Turkish hamster lives is extremely dry and open, with fairly little vegetation aside from grasses. Turkish hamsters usually live between 1,000 and 2,200 meters above sea level. This hamster burrows in the ground for shelter, and its

burrow An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of s ...

s can be 20 inches to 6 feet below the ground surface. These burrows are complex, consisting of several tunnels leading to separate cells for nesting, food, and waste. Turkish hamster burrows are well-enough equipped for the hamsters to hibernate for four to 10 months (though sources do differ on this point), sometimes sleeping for 30 days at a time, though usually waking weekly for a day or two of activity.

Diet

Turkish hamsters have fairly varied diets, subsisting primarily on grains and herbs. They do eat insects on occasion and store roots and leaves in their burrows for hibernation. As Turkish hamsters often live near and among farmlands, they often eat human

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropo ...

s and are considered a pest.

Population and endangerment

The Turkish hamster is a rare species, but is the most widespread of the family

. Its ability to live in a variety of environments means the Turkish hamster often lives on farmlands, and is viewed as and controlled as an agricultural pest. In 1996, the Turkish hamster was categorized as an

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

with the lowest risk of extinction, but due to cases of direct poisoning by farmers, it is now

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

. More data are needed to understand the population decline.

Reproduction

Turkish hamsters are weaned from their mothers after three weeks of nursing. After eight weeks of age, females are sexually mature, but males do not mature until six months of age. According to iucnredlist.org, Turkish hamsters have two to four litters of young per year, with four to 20 young per litter, averaging 10. Petwebsite.com differs on this point, arguing the litter size is between one and 13 young, with an average of 6. The

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during preg ...

lasts from 14 to 15 days, or 16–17 days. The two main breeding seasons are spring and fall, when daylength is about 15–17 hours per day.

Relationship to other hamsters

All hamsters are solitary creatures and are generally aggressive. Turkish hamsters are most closely related to the Syrian or golden hamster. The Turkish hamster is considered to be the more aggressive of the two, but this could be because the other species has been

domesticated Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...

Domestic pets

Turkish hamsters are kept as a pet by some. Hamsters are aggressive by nature and these hamsters are recent pet species, yet this species is still improving. The

domestication Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...

of the hamster was a fairly recent development; in 1930, a family of Syrian hamsters was domesticated, and this was the first instance of hamster domestication in history. Since then, only five of the 18 species of hamster—

Campbell's dwarf hamster Campbell's dwarf hamster (''Phodopus campbelli'') is a species of hamster in the genus '' Phodopus''. It was given its common name by Oldfield Thomas in honor of Charles William Campbell, who collected the first specimen in Mongolia on July 1 ...

, the Djungarian hamster, the Roborovski hamster, the

, and the Chinese hamster—have been domesticated and are sold in pet shops. Turkish hamsters are often used in

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physici ...

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs wh ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q925103 Mesocricetus Hamster, Turkish Hamster, Turkish Mammals of Azerbaijan Mammals of the Middle East Mammals described in 1898