The Gobi jerboa (Allactaga bullata) is a species of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It is found in China and Mongolia. Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and temperate desert.
The Gobi jerboa was discovered in 1925 by Glover Morrill Allen. It is found in the Gobi Desert located in northern and northwestern China, as well as in southern Mongolia, and is considered to be the most “desert loving” out of all Gobi rodents (Smith and Xie 2008). Allen first examined an adult male Gobi jerboa from Tsagan Nor, Outer Mongolia, which was collected on July 5, 1922 by the Central Asiatic Expeditions and housed at the American Museum of Natural History (Allen 1925). Allen further compared the subspecies Allactaga sibirica annulata and Allactaga sibirica sibirica, to the Gobi jerboa because they are all sympatric. Allen examined forty specimens collected from different regions of Mongolia, and found that while the Gobi jerboa was similar in color and appearance to A. sibirica annulata, by exhibiting the same grayer and buffier phases, the Gobi jerboa has shorter and broader ears, smaller hind feet, and a much larger globular audital bullae (nearly three times the size), which differentiates it from A. sibirica annulata. The Gobi jerboa was differentiated from A. sibirica sibirica because of its enlarged and globular auditory bullae, and its nearly vertical upper incisors (Allen 1925). Today, there have been 163 recorded occurrences of the Gobi jerboa, however there is currently no known data that examines its population status (The Global Biodiversity Information Facility 2013 and Batsaikhan et al. 2008).
Range
The Gobi jerboa is native to China and Mongolia (Smith and Xie 2008). In China, the Gobi jerboa extends west into Xinjiang, east into Nei Mongol, and north into Gansu. In Mongolia, the gobi jerboa can be found in the Great Lakes Depression, Valley of the Lakes, Northern Gobi, Dzungarian, Gobi Desert, Trans Altai Gobi Desert and Alashani Gobi Desert (Sokolov et al. 1998). Approximately 21% of the Gobi jerboa's range in Mongolia is in protected areas (Clark et al. 2006).
Habitat
The Gobi jerboa is found in desert and steppe habitats, which are particularly well vegetated. Saltwort, ephedra, and desert bushes characterize these landscapes in China (Smith and Xie 2008). The gobi jerboa are nocturnal rodents which live alone, and spend most of the daylight hours in unplugged burrows that are relatively simple, and can extend up to 60 cm in length. These burrows are readily visible in the light sand, and contain well-defined nesting chambers without bedding (Smith and Xie 2008). Their diet consists of seeds, roots, tubers, insects (grasshoppers and beetles), and larvae (Smith and Xie 2008). There are no known major threats to this species (Batsaikhan et al. 2008).
Breeding
Gobi jerboa reproduce between May and August once or twice a year, and can have between one and three offspring per litter. (Smith and Xie 2008). The mother has a rather long pregnancy, and the young are born naked and helpless. Newborn Gobi jerboas develop slower than most rodents; they are not able to jump until around 11 weeks of age and are not sexually mature until 14 weeks of age. However, although they develop slower, they tend to have a longer life expectancy than most rodents-up to 6 years in the wild (Sharp, J.).