Jerboa Temporal range: Middle Miocene - Recent
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Superfamily:	Dipodoidea
Family:	Dipodidae Fischer de Waldheim , 1817

A jerboa is a small desert rodent of Asia and Northern Africa . ^[1] It looks like a mouse , but it has a long tail and very long back legs . The jerboa moves by jumping, and their highest jump is over 6 feet high. They have long tails, long hind legs, and short front legs. There are 33 species of jerboa, which tend to live in hot deserts. ^[1]

When they are being chased, jerboas can run up to 24 kilometers per hour . ^[1] Some jerboa species are preyed on by little owls in central Asia. Most species of jerboas have very good hearing . Their hearing helps them avoid being attacked by predators . ^[2]

Related pages [ change | change source ]

• Hopping mouse
• Jumping mouse
• Kangaroo rat and kangaroo mouse
• Kultarr
• Springhare

References [ change | change source ]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Burton, Maurice; Burton, Robert (1970). The International Wildlife Encyclopedia. Marshall Cavendish. p. 1323. ISBN   978-0-7614-7266-7 .
2. ↑ Swanson, Nicole (2007). "Euchoreutes naso" . Animal Diversity Web . Retrieved 2 March 2022 .

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