The Namib brush-tailed gerbil or Setzer's hairy-footed gerbil (''Gerbillurus setzeri'') 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 ...

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 ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and

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 ...

s are sandy and gravelly plains. It stays in its burrow by day, emerging at night to feed on arthropods, vegetable matter, and seeds.

Description

The Namib brush-tailed gerbil is the largest species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Gerbillurus'', growing to a head-and-body length of about with a tail of around . The dorsal fur is a pale sandy brown colour, individual hairs having a grey basal half and a sandy tip. The flanks are paler than the back, and the face, chin, throat and underparts are white. The eyes are surrounded by indistinct whitish eye rings, the ears are colourless and scantily furred, and the whiskers are black and white. The legs and feet are white, with the soles and the undersides of the digits being densely clad with hair. The tail is sandy-coloured above and white beneath, and is tipped by a long tuft of grey hairs.

Distribution and habitat

This gerbil

to southwestern

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and northwestern and western

in a strip of land running parallel to the coast. It typically occurs in sandy and gravelly areas, sand flats, bare gravel plains with thin, semi-compacted soils, and dried up riverbeds. When population densities rise, some animals may move into nearby

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

areas.

Ecology

The Namib brush-tailed gerbil is nocturnal, spending the day in a branching burrow with several entrances that it excavates. It prefers bare areas with little vegetation, and the position of its burrows is often made obvious by the heaps of excavated spoil of a different colour from the surroundings. The burrow may be as long as and contains a nesting chamber, lined with shredded herbage, and storerooms for food. The gerbil feeds on

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, plant material and seeds. It does not need to drink, as it is very efficient at concentrating 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 is thus able to retain as much moisture in its body as possible. It is more sociable than some related species, but aggressive encounters sometimes occur, with chasing and boxing taking place; there are some vocalizations, including ultrasonic whistles, which are associated with sexual behaviour and communication, and foot drumming is also used.

Status

This gerbil is a common species with a moderate-sized range and is presumed to have a large total population. Much of that population is found in protected areas, and the gerbil faces no particular threats, so 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 ...

Description

Distribution and habitat

Ecology

Status

References

Further reading