The dune hairy-footed gerbil, or the Namib dune gerbil (''Gerbillurus tytonis'') 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 ...

found only in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Its natural

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 ...

is temperate

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

where it lives in loose sand among sand dunes, feeding opportunistically on arthropods, seeds and green vegetation.

Description

The dune hairy-footed gerbil is a moderate-sized '' Gerbillurus'' species with a head-and-body length of and a long tail. The head is narrow with a pointed muzzle, large eyes, and long, sparsely-haired ears. The upper parts of the head and body are a rich chestnut, sharply delineated from the underparts, which are white. There is a small white patch above each eye. The legs are white, the forelegs being much shorter than the hind legs. There are five toes on each foot, with the toes of the hind feet being long and flared. All the feet have well-furred soles and a distinctive fringe of hairs on each toe. The tail is very long, being chestnut above and white below, and tipped with a tuft of greyish hairs.

Distribution and habitat

This gerbil is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the deserts of western Namibia, where it occurs in areas with high or low sand dunes, and in dune hummocks. Its range consists of an area near the coast between Swakopmund and Lüderitz. It favours habitats with shifting sand and some plant life, avoiding hard compact dune valley floors. The burrow is often dug beside ''

Trianthema hereroensis ''Trianthema'' is a genus of flowering plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are annuals or perennials generally characterized by fleshy, opposite, unequal, smooth-margined leaves, a prostrate growth form, flowers with ...

'' or ''

Stipagrostis sabulicola ''Stipagrostis sabulicola'', the Namib dune bushman grass, is a species of grass endemic to the dunes of the Namib The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast plac ...

'' plants, whose roots stabilise the soil, or in the hummocks of spiny growth formed by ''

Acanthosicyos horridus ''Acanthosicyos horridus'' is an unusual melon that is endemic to the Namib desert. In English it is known as Nara, butter-nuts, or butterpips; in one of the Khoisan languages it is locally called or ("!" is pronounced with a click, somewhat ...

'' (nara) plants.

Ecology

The dune hairy-footed gerbil is

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 ...

and moves by leaping, being able to cover up to in a single jump. It keeps cool by day by remaining underground in its burrow. This may be branched, have more than one entrance, and be up to long. Inside the burrow there are caches of food and a nest chamber filled with shredded plant matter. The gerbil's diet includes

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s and seeds, and green vegetation when available. This gerbil concentrates its

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excretion, excreted from the body through the urethra. Cel ...

, and has no need to drink as long as its food is rich in arthropods and does not entirely consist of dry seeds. It maintains the condition of its coat by frequent sand-bathing.

Status

This species is common in its dune habitat. It is presumed to have a large total population and no specific threats have been identified. It is present in some protected areas 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 its 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

{{Taxonbar, from=Q301813 Gerbillurus Rodents of Africa Mammals of Namibia Endemic fauna of Namibia Mammals described in 1960 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot