Meriones (Pallasiomys) unguiculatus Milne-Edwards 1867

Meriones (Pallasiomys) unguiculatus Milne-Edwards 1867, Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool., ser. 7, 5: 377.

Type Locality: China, N Shanxi, 10 mi (16 km) NE of Tschang-Kur, Eul-che san hao (= Ershi san hao).

Vernacular Names: Mongolian Jird.

Synonyms: Meriones (Pallasiomys) chihfengensis Mori 1939; Meriones (Pallasiomys) koslovi (Satunin 1903); Meriones (Pallasiomys) kurauchii Mori 1930; Meriones (Pallasiomys) selenginus Heptner 1949 .

Distribution: Mongolia, and adjacent regions of Siberia (Transbaikalia) and of China from E Gansu, N Ningxia, N Shaanxi, N Shanxi, and Hebei, through C and N Nei Mongol and Liaoning (see Gromov and Erbajeva [1995], Wang [2003], and Zhang et al. [1997]).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Pallasiomys . Reviewed by G. M. Allen (1940), Corbet (1978 c), and Pavlinov et al. (1990). Corbet also included Xinjiang in the distribution of the species, but Ma et al. (1987) did not record it there. Spicer and Schulte (1994) documented cochlear structure at the cellular level. This study is an example of the many undertaken on this species, as this is the gerbil usually sold as pets and used in medical laboratories (Turton, 1984). Laboratory colonies were derived from twenty pairs captured in the Amur River basin in 1935, initially taken to Japan from which a colony was shipped to the United States, and from there others were distributed to Europe (Turton, 1984). Yang et al. (1992) described phallic morphology and contrasted it with that of M. meridianus . Cao et al. (1995) reported histology of the glans penis in M. unguiculatus and contrasted the pattern and morphology of its epidermal spines with M. meridianus and Rhombomys opimus, and commented upon the significance of the spines for discriminating among species. See Gulotta (1971, Mammalian Species, 3).