Sokolov's dwarf hamster

The Sokolow - dwarf hamster ( Cricetulus sokolovi ) is an entity belonging to the Grey dwarf hamsters type of hamster and probably closely related to the Daurian dwarf hamsters. It inhabits shrubby sandy areas in Mongolia and adjacent China and is from 9.5 to 14.6 inches long including the tail.

Body characteristics

The head-body length of the Sokolow - dwarf hamster is 77-114 mm, tail length 18 to 32 millimeters, the Hinterfußlänge 13 to 18 millimeters, the ear length 13 to 19 mm and the greatest length of skull 23 to 26 millimeters.

The skin of the top is gray with a yellow-brown or walnut -colored clay. It is brighter than that of the Trans-Baikal dwarf hamster. From the neck to the tail runs a dorsal stripe, which is most marked in young hamsters and gradually faded in older hamsters to a shadow. The coat the underside is light gray in color and clearly distinguished from the top. The ears are the same color as the top, but with a dark brown spot in the middle. Upper hand, the tail has a similar color, lower side it is lighter, but without sharp color separation. The paws are white and not flat, as the toes tend to curl up.

The chromosome number is 20 and the Gesamtarmzahl the autosomes 32 X - chromosome and Y- chromosome is submetacentric and the Gesamtarmzahl of chromosomes is 36 According Romanenko and employees, the karyotype of the Sokolow - hamster differs by a chromosome fission and four chromosome fusions from the assumed original karyotype Cricetus the group.

From the long-tailed dwarf hamsters, dwarf hamsters of the Tibetan and the horror of dwarf hamsters, the Sokolow - dwarf hamster differs by the shorter tail, which is usually shorter than three inches. With the Daurian dwarf hamster he has this feature in common, but differs from it by the gray ears with dark-brown spot in the middle.

Lifestyle, distribution and population

Red: locality of the type specimen
Black: other localities in China

The habitat of the Sokolow - dwarf hamster are shrubby sandy areas. His self-dug burrows are usually found under desert shrubs. The propagation starts in mid May and three to four litters of four to nine pups per litter to be brought into the world a year.

The distribution area of the Sokolow - dwarf hamster are the Valley of the Lakes, the Great Lakes sink, the Alashan Gobi, the Nordgobi and the Eastern Gobi to the west and south of Mongolia and the center of Inner Mongolia in China. The World Conservation Union IUCN classifies him as the world's not a risk. For Red List of Mongolia and China are no adequate data.

Nomenclature and systematics

The type specimen of the Sokolow - dwarf hamster comes from the southwest coast of Orog Lake. Named after Vladimir Jewgenjewitsch Sokolow, it was described in 1988 by Viktor Nikolayevich sokolovi Orlov and Vasily Mikhailovich Malygin as Cricetulus.

The known specimens were initially assigned to the Gobi dwarf hamster ( Orlov et al, 1978; Sokolov and Orlov, 1980; Král et al, 1984). ( Corbet and Hill, 1986; Corbet and Hill, 1991; Nowak, 1991 Honacki and staff, 1982) Due to the distinct characteristics of the chromosomes and the coat of copies of these was then in classifications operate as a separate type of horror dwarf hamsters. ( Nowak, 1999; Pawlinow, 2003; Musser and Carleton, 2005; Smith and Hoffmann, 2008 Musser and Carleton, 1993) In contrast, more recent classifications of the Sokolow - dwarf hamster is run as a separate species. He is with the Daurian dwarf hamster and the long-tailed dwarf hamster in the subgenus Cricetulus ( Pawlinow, 2003) or with the Daurian dwarf hamsters in Cricetulus barabensis group together ( Neumann et al, 2006; Lebedev and Lissowski, 2008).

Morphological studies of the skull confirm the status as the sister species of Daurian hamster. Cytogenetic studies using Giemsa banding can, however, suggest a closer relationship with the Central Great Dwarf hamsters.

Sokolov's dwarf hamster

Body characteristics

Lifestyle, distribution and population

Nomenclature and systematics

Literature and References