The Ciscaucasian hamster (''Mesocricetus raddei'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

in 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, and has m ...

. It is also known as the Georgian hamster and is found only in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Distribution and habitat

This hamster occurs on the northern slopes of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

and

Ciscaucasia The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

, between

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

, the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

and the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

. It is also known from a single record in

. It appears to be extending its range north and north-westwards in its

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s but in the mountains the population remains stable. It is found in grassy

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, ...

s and also mountain steppes at elevations from 1600 to 2300 m above sea level. It favours pasture and cultivated land and also occurs in belts of trees and rough grass between fields but not in dense woodland.''Mesocricetus raddei'' Nehring. – Ciscaucasian Hamster or Georgian Hamster.
Agroatlas.ru. Retrieved on 2012-12-28.

Morphology and biology

Hamsters of the subspecies found in mountainous regions are larger than the ones found on the plains. They are about long with a short tail, long. They are yellowish-brown above with creamy-white throat and underparts and a black ventral region. There are two broad black stripes at the shoulder and the ears are large and rounded. This hamster is considered an agricultural pest. It is mainly

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

, emerging at dusk to feed on grasses and herbs in spring and early summer, and on seeds, crops and roots in the autumn. The

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 sh ...

is extensive and has several exits in the mountain subspecies but only one on the plains. Large stores of food (up to ) are laid up in the autumn before

hibernation Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...

which lasts for four to six months depending on the temperature and altitude. This food is mostly eaten in the spring upon emergence from hibernation. In the mountains there are two generations each year but on the plains there may be three or four. Litter size is up to twenty and averages about twelve. This

fecundity Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to pr ...

means that the species can recover quickly after harsh winters and the population size is subject to considerable fluctuations.

Economic significance

In some years ''M. raddei'' becomes a considerable pest of agricultural crops. It can damage cereals and perennial grasses, disrupt potato plantings, melon fields and vegetable gardens. Close to the burrow the vegetation may be completely destroyed.Magomedov M., Omarov K.Z. (1995). The peculiarities of nutrition and condition of natural population of ciscaucasian hamster (''Mesocricetus raddei avaricus'') in agricultural landscapes of mountain. ''Dagestan. Zoologicheskii zhurnal'', 74(3): 123–133. (In Russian) It is sometimes trapped for its fur.

References

*Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1766383 Mesocricetus Rodents of Europe Mammals of Russia Mammals described in 1894 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot