Salpingotus

Three-toed dwarf jerboa ( Salpingotus ) are a genus of jumping mice with five species found in Central Asia. There they hold in sandy deserts with scattered vegetation.

These rodents reach a head -body length 4-6 cm and a tail length of 9-12 cm. Characteristic are three toes on the 2 to 2.5 cm long feet of the hind limbs. The soles are covered with tufts of hair. In some species the tail is thickened. Furthermore Salpingotus kozlovi and Salpingotus heptneri have a tassel at the tail end. In contrast to various other gerbils three-toed dwarf jerboa have an upper premolar in each jaw half. The fur is light brown to beige and belly bright yellow on the back.

The way of life of the animals is still quite unexplored and mostly known for Salpingotus crassicauda. They dig tunnels that can be as long as 3 m. As a food serve small animals and various plant parts. Females can mate a year, twice. An average of 2.7 young are born per litter.

Wilson & Reeder (2005) lists five species of the genus.

• Salpingotus crassicauda, southern Mongolia, northern China and eastern Kazakhstan.
• Salpingotus heptneri, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
• Salpingotus kozlovi, Mongolia and China.
• Salpingotus pallidus, Kazakhstan in the area of the Aral Sea.
• Salpingotus thomasi, Afghanistan and Tibet.

Older plants also expect the Balochistan dwarf jerboa ( Salpingotulus michaelis ) to the three-toed dwarf gerbils, the now mostly stands in its own genus.

Due to insufficient research on these animals almost all types of IUCN with are " insufficient data " (Data Deficient ) listed only Salpingotus kozlovi is considered " not at risk " (Least Concern ).

Reference literature

• Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 vols. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD, inter alia, 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9.