The gracile tateril or slender gerbil (''Taterillus gracilis'') 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 in
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 今云仇五仆丐 丐之亢, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
,
Chad
Chad (; ar, 堛奡塈堹 , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
,
Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, 媞塈堥塈 officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
,
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
,
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 五仆井, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, 葶舝葖, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: R矇publique de Guin矇e), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
,
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as C繫te d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of C繫te d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
,
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 井仆不丐仆不五 丐中五, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, 堿堭堜 塈, Jumh贖riyyt Ml蘋 is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
,
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Na穫j穩r穩y, yo, N穫j穩r穩, pcm, Naij獺 , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...](_blank)
,
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 井仆井內丐中五 (Senegaali); Arabic: 塈堻媞塈 ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''R矇ewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 井仆不丐仆不五 ...
,
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: R矇publique togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
, and possibly
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: R矇publique du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
. 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 ...
s are dry
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
,
arable land
Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...
, pastureland, and rural gardens. It is a common species, sometimes considered an agricultural
pest
Pest or The Pest may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns
** Weed, a plant considered undesirable
* Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection
** ...
, 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 rated 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 ...
".
[
]
Description
The gracile tateril is a small to medium-sized gerbil with a head-and-body length averaging and a tail averaging . The muzzle is pointed and often has dark markings, the cheeks are white and there are white patches above and behind the eye. The eyes are large and the ears are long. The upper parts of the body are yellowish-brown or reddish-brown, the individual hairs having grey shafts, and golden yellow or orange-brown tips. The underparts are whitish, the hairs being grey near the base and white near the tip. The two areas of colour are clearly demarcated on the flanks. The feet are pale on the upper surface and the hind feet are dark and nearly naked below. The tail is clad in short hairs and has a bushy, dark-coloured "pencil" at its tip.
Distribution and habitat
The gracile tateril has a wide distribution in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Its range extends from Senegal in the west to Nigeria and western Chad.[ Its typical habitat is dry savannah woodland and scrubland where the annual precipitation is at least . It appreciates soils rich in clay and is often found in areas supporting trees and shrubs in the Combretaceae family.][
]
Ecology
The gracile tateril 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 ...
. It excavates a simple, unbranched and rather vertical, burrow. It is an omnivore
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutr ...
, feeding mostly on seeds, leaves and stems, but also consuming insects, especially in the dry season. At this time of year it makes use of the bodily reserves of fat it has built up during the wet season.[
]
References
*Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 8941531 ''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=Q1765887
Taterillus
Mammals described in 1892
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Rodents of Africa
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot