Allactaga elater

The small five-toed jerboa belongs to the subfamily Allactaginae. Jerboas are distributed in deserts and arid areas in North Africa, Arabia and northern Asia. They are one of the few mammals in this extreme environment. The species-level classification status of the small five-toed jerboa is stable and undisputed. There are many subspecies, but there is only one subspecies in China - the Junggar subspecies (<A. elater dzungariae>).

The small five-toed jerboa mainly inhabits semi-desert grasslands rich in Artemisia, Stipa desert steppes, Achnatherum splendens and Haloxylon ammodendron. It feeds on the branches, leaves, rhizomes and bark of a variety of plants.

Distributed in northern Xinjiang in China. Distributed abroad in Iran and Russia.

It mainly inhabits semi-desert grasslands rich in Artemisia, Stipa desert steppe, Achnatherum splendens and Haloxylon ammodendron.

The ears are large and turned forward over the nose. The hind feet are three times longer than the front feet, but usually no longer than 65mm. The back of the body is dark gray to dark gray, and the sides are brownish yellow; the fur is lighter in winter, with grayish yellow-white on the back and grayish white on the sides. The ventral surface is pure white from the chin to the base of the tail. The tail is long, slightly more than 1.5 times the body length, averaging 160mm. The tail end is hairy and swollen like a brush, the tip of the tail is white, and the rest of the swollen part is black, but there is a white line along the middle. The tail is a balancer when jumping. The hind feet have 5 toes, and the middle 3 toes have harder bristles on both sides of the toes.