The Chinese striped hamster (''Cricetulus barabensis''), also known as the striped dwarf hamster, is a species of
hamster
Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The b ...
. It is distributed across Northern Asia, from southern
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
through
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
and northeastern
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
to northern
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
. An adult Chinese striped hamster weighs , and has a body length of with a tail of . It is smaller and has a much shorter tail than the
greater long-tailed hamster
The greater long-tailed hamster (''Tscherskia triton'') is a rodent native to Siberia, the Korean Peninsula, and China. It is the Monotypic taxon, only member of the genus ''Tscherskia''. Taxonomy
The genetic diversity of ''Tscherskia triton'' h ...
, ''Tscherskia triton'', which inhabits much of the same range.
Taxonomy
The Chinese striped hamster was
first described in 1773 as ''Cricetulus barabensis'' by the German zoologist
Peter Simon Pallas
Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussian zoologist and botanist who worked in Russia between 1767 and 1810.
Life and work
Peter Simon Pallas was born in Berlin, the son ...
. There is quite some confusion over the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
name of the Chinese striped hamster and the closely related
Chinese hamster. Some people consider the Chinese hamster (''Cricetulus griseus'') and the Chinese striped hamster (''Cricetulus barabensis'') different species, whereas others classify them as identical, the Chinese striped hamster as a subspecies of the Chinese hamster (in which case the Latin name of the Chinese striped hamster would be ''Cricetulus griseus barabensis'')
or the other way round (in which case the Latin name of the Chinese hamster would be ''Cricetulus barabensis griseus'').
Six subspecies are recognised; ''C. b. humatus'' is found in
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
,
Jilin
Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...
and
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
; ''C. b. griseus'' is found in
Liaoning
Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...
, Inner Mongolia,
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
,
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
,
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
,
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
,
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
and
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
; ''C. b. manchuricus'' is found in eastern
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
; ''C. b. obscurus'' is found in Inner Mongolia,
Ningxia
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...
, eastern
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
, northern
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
and
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
; ''C. b. pseudogriseus''; and ''C. b. xinganensis'' is found in northern Heilongjiang and northeastern Inner Mongolia.
[
]
Description
The Chinese striped hamster has a head-and-body length of between and a tail length of and a weight of . The snout is short, the eyes set wide apart and the ears are neat and rounded, blackish fringed with white. The dorsal surface is pale greyish-brown with a faint blackish dorsal stripe running along the spine. The underparts are grey, the hairs having white tips. The tail is about thirty percent of the combined length of the head and body.
Distribution and habitat
The Chinese striped hamster is native to central and eastern Asia. Its range includes Western Siberia
Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region an ...
, Tuva
Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...
, the Trans-Baikal region, Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, northeastern China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...
and Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
. Its typical habitat is arid and semiarid grasslands, steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the temperate grasslands, ...
and semi-desert
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
. It also occupies farmland and sometimes moves into buildings.[
]
Behaviour
The Chinese striped hamster digs a burrow in which several individuals live. This is up to a metre long and up to half a metre below the surface of the ground. There are usually several entrances about in diameter and side passages ending in storage chambers or nesting chambers. This hamster is most active in the early hours of the night when it emerges from its burrow to forage for seeds of grains and legumes. It carries food in its cheek pouches and excess food is stored in the burrow. It hibernates during the winter, emerging in February or March.[
Reproductive activity takes place through spring, summer and autumn, and there may be as many as five litters in this period. Breeding peaks in March and April, and there is another peak in autumn. The average litter size is six or seven, but up to ten offspring have been recorded.][
]
Status
The Chinese striped hamster has a wide range and a large total population. It has been recorded from some protected areas and is a common species. The population trend is unknown, but no particular threats have been identified other than loss of habitat through overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature res ...
or wildfires, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
has assessed the hamster's conservation status as being of "least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
".[
]
References
*
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1052072
Cricetulus
Mammals described in 1773
Rodents of Asia
Rodents of China
Mammals of Korea
Mammals of Mongolia
Mammals of Siberia