Williams's jerboa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Williams's jerboa |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Scarturus
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| Species: |
williamsi
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| Synonyms | |
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Allactaga williamsi |
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The Williams's jerboa (Scarturus williamsi) is a small, hopping rodent. It lives in countries like Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey.
Contents
What Does a Williams's Jerboa Look Like?
Williams's jerboas are small rodents that hop around. They live in desert areas. Like other jerboas, they have big ears and a very long tail. Their tail helps them balance when they stand up tall.
They have long back feet for hopping. Their front legs are short. They use these front legs like tiny hands to eat food or clean themselves.
Where Do Williams's Jerboas Live?
This jerboa species is found in many places. These include Anatolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Turkey. There is also a group living in central Afghanistan.
They like to live in steppes, which are flat grasslands with not many plants. They can live in areas that have been changed by people, as long as there is still enough natural space. However, they usually do not live in farm fields.
Williams's jerboas prefer dry areas and the lower parts of mountains. In the western parts of their home range, they live at heights up to 360 meters (about 1,180 feet). In Afghanistan, they can live much higher, up to 3,200 meters (about 10,500 feet).
Williams's Jerboa Behaviour and Life Cycle
Williams's jerboas are mostly active at night. During the day, they stay safe inside their burrows, which are tunnels they dig in the ground. When night comes, they come out to find food. They eat both insects and plants.
These jerboas can be a food source for other animals. For example, the long-eared owl in Turkey often hunts them.
Williams's jerboas have their babies in the spring and summer. A mother jerboa can have two groups of babies each year. Each group usually has three to six young jerboas.
What is the Conservation Status of Williams's Jerboa?
The Williams's jerboa lives across a large area. Even though there aren't huge numbers of them in one spot, their total population is thought to be big. They are common in some parts of Azerbaijan. However, they are rarer in parts of Turkey and have even disappeared from some areas there.
The biggest danger to these jerboas is when their steppe homes are turned into farmland. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has looked at their situation. They have listed the Williams's jerboa as "least concern". This means they are not currently in danger of disappearing.
