132.

Swarthy Gerbil

Gerbillus aquilus

French: Gerbille sombre / German: Dunkle Rennmaus / Spanish: Gerbillo moreno

Taxonomy. Gerbillus cheesmani aquilus Schlitter & Setzer, 1973,

60 km W Kerman, SE Iran.

Initially described as a subspecies of G. cheesmani, this member of the subgenus Gerbillus was elevated to species rank by D. M. Lay and C. F. Nadler in 1975 on basis of its morphological and skull morphometric characters, as well as slight chromosomal difference. Full species treatment was followed by G. G.Musser and M. D. Carleton in 2005, but notin previous treatments by G. B. Corbet and J. E. Hill in 1992 and T. J. Roberts in 1997. Monotypic.

Distribution. SE Iran, S Afghanistan, and SW Pakistan (Balochistan).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 94-103 mm,tail 122-151 mm, ear 13-17 mm, hindfoot 28-32 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Swarthy Gerbilis a hairy-footed gerbil with dusky cinnamon dorsal pelage and white belly. Tail is bicolored and longer than head-body length, with a developed dark pencil at tip. Tympanic bullae are well inflated and represent about 32% of maximum length of skull. Diploid number 2n = 38, FN = 76.

Habitat. Sandy areas.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Swarthy Gerbils are nocturnal and crepuscular.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Swarthy Gerbil is probably a colonial species.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List, but it would be better considered as Data Deficient owing to lack of information.

Bibliography. Corbet & Hill (1992), Lay & Nadler (1975), Musser & Carleton (2005), Roberts (1997), Schlitter & Setzer (1973).