The Persian jird (''Meriones persicus'') 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 n ...

in the family Muridae found in

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Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

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, and

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. The Persian jird is about long and has a brush-tipped tail that is slightly longer than the body. They are brown with white bellies. The Persian jird's natural habitats are dry rocky hillsides with little vegetation and semi-desert areas. They find shelter in either small burrows or under overhanging rocks. These jirds can also be found living near humans, such as under walls. In the wild, Persian jirds eat dry plant material and grains, with small insects as a supplement. Persian jirds usually have two litters a year, each with around seven pups. Some people keep this species as a pet. They can live to be six or seven years old. They need large cages that allow climbing and leaping. The high abundance of Persian jird in many areas, as well as their several proper features, makes them a suitable species for biomonitoring programs (Khazaee et al. 2016).

References

* Barker, Julian. (1998-12) The Persian Jird. ''The Nibbler (Journal of the National Gerbil Society)''. * * Khazaee, M., Hamidian, A. H., Shabani, A. A., Ashrafi, S., Mirjalili, S. A. A., & Esmaeilzadeh, E. (2016). Accumulation of heavy metals and As in liver, hair, femur, and lung of Persian jird (Meriones persicus) in Darreh Zereshk copper mine, Iran. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 23(4), 3860–3870.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11356-015-5455-x Meriones (rodent) Mammals of West Asia Mammals of Azerbaijan Mammals of Afghanistan Mammals of Pakistan Fauna of Iran Mammals described in 1875 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Meriones-stub