The color of the jerboa from different points of the range varies from dark reddish-sandy-gray to lighter, dull reddish-sandy. The hair color of the dorsal fur in jerboas of the nominal form is darker than in all other subspecies. The coloration of the sides of the body contrasts sharply with the dark back. On the tail "banner" reaches strong development black-brown field, having a total length of up to 60 mm on the upper side of the tail. The tip of the tail is whitish, its length from above is 26-30 mm.
Among the distinctive field signs upland jerboa include: developed three-toed hind limbs, the presence on the underside of the toes of the hind foot of a well-developed brush of long straight hair, usually white, a developed tail “banner” and relatively short ears. Unlike all other three-toed jerboas, the front surface of the incisors of this animal is yellow. The upland jerboa is common in the sands of the extreme southeast of the European part of the USSR, in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Northern Iran, Northern Afghanistan, Dzungaria, Mongolia and Northeast China.

Being an inhabitant of the sands, the animal leads strictly sedentary life. In areas with non-sandy soil, it is almost never found. The migration of animals to the sands far removed from the inhabited part of the sandy massif was also not noted. Within the habitable territory, rodents show high mobility. During night movements along country roads passing along the periphery of the sands, the jerboa leaves its hole for hundreds of meters. The animal lives in the twilight-night time. In spring and summer, jerboas emerge from their burrows on average 10-20 minutes after sunset. In November, the animals come out 1-2.5 hours after sunset. The terrestrial activity of rodents, especially in autumn, often alternates with their short-term retreats into burrows. Winds and rains, as well as moderate frosts in early spring and autumn, do not particularly keep the animals in the hole, but during the period heavy rains they stop ground activity. After such a night in the dunes, it is almost impossible to find either their fresh traces or diggers.
This animal belongs to the group of jerboas that feed on concentrated seed feed, willingly eats the seeds of potash, kumarchik, kiyak, dzhuzgun fruits, flowers and fruits of chondrilla, sandy wormwood, leaves of other wormwoods and saltworts, tulip bulbs. In addition, the jerboa eats insects, in particular, the larvae of weevil beetles that have overwintered in the galls of the basal part of the cumarch.

In the deserts, the jerboa lies in hibernation regularly, but there is a significant variability in its duration in different areas. In some places, its duration is about 3.5-4 months, and in the south of this it is only 1.5-2 months.
Upland jerboas reach puberty relatively early - at the age of 2-2.5 months, but most of the animals begin to breed only a year after birth. Relatively early spring mating occurs. Adult females are the first to start breeding. Pregnancy lasts about 25-27 days. In one brood, on average, there are 4 individuals.
Among the enemies of this jerboa, some types of birds can be attributed - an eagle owl, a house owl, and from four-legged predators - a fox, a corsac, a dressing, a steppe ferret. Also, a sand boa can be considered an opponent.
Arranging its holes in the sands, the jerboa lives together with many psammophiles. Among them, the fine-toed ground squirrel, the great and midday gerbil, the comb-toed jerboa, the Liechtenstein jerboa and the three-toed pygmy jerboa stand out. Many of them are competitors of the upland jerboa in feeding and using burrows.

MOKHNOGONY Jerboa (DIPUS SAGITTA)

This is a typical representative of the three-toed jerboas, which surpassed the five-toed ones in some traits of specialization for living in deserts. In particular, non-functional and therefore useless lateral fingers on the hind limbs completely disappeared, leaving only three support fingers. Among them more inhabitants sands, so the lower surface of the supporting fingers is covered with a stiff "brush" of elongated hair. They do not allow a calmly sitting animal to “drown” in loose sand, and a fast-running animal to slip. In three-toed jerboas, similar to dwarf ones, they are fused to one degree or another cervical vertebrae. Finally, they have a different specialization of the organ of hearing than the five-fingered ones: the auditory capsule is enlarged, and not the auricle.

The upland jerboa, in which all these features are quite clearly expressed, is an animal of medium size for a family: body length 9-12 cm, tail 14-17 cm, weight up to 100 g. Tail with a well-developed terminal "banner". The "brush" on the toes of the hind legs is well developed, the ears are short. The coloration of the upper body is "desert", with a predominance of sandy and reddish tones, the abdomen is white, a narrow white "band" runs across the thigh.

The upland jerboa lives in sandy deserts from the northern Caspian in the west to Mongolia and Tuva in the east. Its range covers almost the whole of Kazakhstan and the plains of Central Asia, in Central Asia it rises to high-mountain plateaus up to 3000 meters, in the north with small massifs of sand it penetrates into the so-called "ribbon forests" Western Siberia. Thus, this jerboa is geographically very versatile, the main thing for it is the presence of vast sandy massifs.

In these sands, the upland jerboa digs fairly complex summer nesting burrows, the total length underground passages reaches 5-7 meters, sometimes more than 10. In addition to the main passage leading to the nesting chamber, there are several burrows and emergency exits in the burrow. In the cell, the jerboa makes a nest from withered grass, roots, tows of sheep's wool, and other soft material: once I had a chance to see how a troublesome animal cruised midnight between its hole and a shepherd's yurt, which stood forty meters away, tearing pieces of felt out of a felt mat. Summer temporary burrows, as it always happens, are simpler - a single passage leads into the thickness of the sand at an obtuse, almost right angle. Winter burrows are also without burrows, but deep: the nesting chamber is located up to 2 meters underground. Going into hibernation, the animal clogs the passage into the hole with a long earthen plug.

Unlike the five-fingered jerboas, the three-toed ones (including the terry-legged one) dig not with their incisors, but with their front paws with long sharp claws. Teeth are used only if a dense layer of soil comes across or you need to gnaw through the spine. It throws dug sand far back with sharp movements of strong hind legs, so that before entering the hole of the upland jerboa there is almost always a characteristic ejection of soil.

The upland jerboa is a "vegetarian", feeding almost exclusively on the stems, leaves and seeds of herbaceous plants. Only in spring it eats small invertebrates in significant quantities: beetles, night butterflies, various larvae.

The character of the upland jerboa is nasty. If the caught animals are put in a common cage, a serious battle immediately flares up between them, from which the fighters come out covered in blood. Even living in a cage with other, more peaceful, rodents for a long time, the shaggy-footed jerboa, when neighbors approach, begins to grumble angrily, snorts, jumps up, spins to the sides - in general, it expresses its displeasure in every possible way.

These jerboas breed in spring and autumn. Pregnancy lasts about a month, the female feeds the cubs for the same amount (usually there are 3-5 of them in a litter). Young spend almost the entire first month of life in a hole and appear on the surface almost fully developed, ready for independent living. For the first week, young jerboas go for walks with their mother: they jump after her in a chain, either lagging behind or pulling themselves up. If the female finds something edible, everyone sticks their noses at one point, their tails stick out - it turns out such a kind of "star" figure. When it starts to get light and it's time to return, the female almost forcibly drives the frolicking cubs into the hole, and she does not always manage to do it on the first try. The female is so jealous of the preservation of her offspring that, having found a trace of the worst enemies - a snake or a boa snake, at the brood hole, she transfers the family to another shelter, away from the first.

emiranchik(Stylodipus telum) -- close relative legged jerboa, similar to it in size and color of the body, rather large head and short ears. Outwardly, it is distinguished by the absence of a two-color "banner": the terminal third of the tail is covered with quite long hair smoky color. There is no elongated hair on the toes of the hind legs in the eelmarine and the "comb".

The range of this jerboa extends from the lower reaches of the Dnieper through the semi-deserts and deserts of Kazakhstan to the Gobi desert, where another, close species of the jerboa lives. Our primrose is not distinguished by attachment to a particular biotope: it can be found in the sands, in gravel-clay deserts and semi-deserts, in feather-grass steppes, and in the north of Kazakhstan - even in pine forests growing on sandy soil. And yet he prefers dense-ground deserts (that's why he doesn't need hair "combs" on his fingers).

The permanent burrows of the lizard are rather complicated, with large quantity passages and nesting chambers; temporary burrows - blindly ending simple passages up to 2 meters long. Food is mainly stems and leaves of herbaceous plants, he especially loves quinoa, spurge, some cereals; with great pleasure eats the leaves and shoots of saxaul. Hibernation lasts 4-5 months. Emeranches breed once a year.

Rough-legged jerboa – Dipus sagitta Pallas, 1773

The main characteristics of the species are the same as those of the genus. In the karyotype, as in representatives of other genera of three-toed jerboas (except for Stylodipus G. Allen), 2n = 48.

Distribution: To the west of the Volga, it lives in the Terek-Kuma, Nizhnevolzhsky and Volga-Don sands north to the mouth of the river. Bear, south to the river. Terek. In the Volga-Urals - north to Urda, and along the river. Ural to the latitude of the village of Indeborsky. Further, the northern border passes through Temir sands, northern Ustyurt (Mataikum), Bolshie Barsuki, Sarysu and Prichui Moiynkum, sands of the southern Balkhash region and the Alakol basin. Along the Irtysh valley it reaches approximately 52 ° N. sh., and to the east - to the ribbon forests of the Altai steppes, Yuzhn. Tuva (Ubsunur basin); in the eastern part of the Alai Valley lives at an altitude of more than 3000 m above sea level. m., where it appears, apparently, from the Chinese part of the range.

Lifestyle and meaning for a person

Dwells among various types sands, from dune to hilly, on different stages fixing and secondary dispersal, however, it avoids massifs of barkhan sands. It is especially numerous in small-hilly and large-ridged sands, including those subjected to intensive grazing. When living together with the crested jerboa, it adheres to inter-ridge and inter-dune depressions. Occurs in dune sands overgrown with pine forest. Together with the small jerboa, it is one of the first to inhabit sandy areas of the drying bottom of the Aral Sea. Active and mobile animal. In the northern parts of its range, it hibernates; active in the south throughout winter period except for unusually harsh winters.

Under favorable conditions, the number can reach 5-6 animals per 1 ha, or 15-20 individuals per 1 km of the route. Temporary (reserve) holes, as a rule, are absent; permanent - up to 5-6 m long and up to 3 m deep, with 1-3 emergency exits, closed by sand plugs; the main passage may remain open. It also settles in the burrows of the great gerbil. Only in spring, vegetative parts of plants predominate in food, including green twigs and flowers of sandy shrubs, in particular saxaul and kandym; also eats roots and bulbs. With the onset of seed maturation, it completely switches to feeding on them. Easily climbs bushes to obtain twigs and fruits. Unlike most other species of three-toed jerboas, it also constantly eats insects and their larvae. The breeding period lasts from 2 - 2.5 months. (Tersko-Kuma sands) up to 8-9 months. (western Kyzyl Kum). Correspondingly, the number of litters is also different, reaching up to 4 per year: 2-3(?) in overwintered females and 1 in arrived animals of the first brood. The average number of cubs (Kyzylkum, by embryos) is about 4.

The damage caused to sand-protecting plantings and desert pastures is noted. Natural carrier of plague, salmonellosis and erysipeloid pathogens.

Geographic variation and subspecies.

The size and coloration form a distinct "wedge": the animals from the southern and southeastern parts of the range are larger and brighter than those in the north and northwest, and buffy and reddish tones instead of gray are clearly visible in the coloration.

Up to 8 subspecies are described, in the territory former USSR - 6.

1.D.s. nogai Satunin, 1907. Larger than other subspecies. The color of the upperparts is dull, brownish-gray, with a slight admixture of ocher or reddish tones. Distribution: eastern Ciscaucasia.

2. D.s. innae Ognev, 1930. Coloration is brighter, ocher-reddish. Distribution: from the Volga-Don watershed to the northern Aral Sea region.

3.D.s. lagopus Lichlenstein, 1832. Upperparts pale, buffy-sandy. Distribution: Avg. Asia, South. Kazakhstan.

4. D.s. sagitta Pallas, 1773. Upperparts are ocher-brown with an olive tinge. Distribution: East. Kazakhstan and Southwest. Siberia.

5. D.s. zaissanensis Selevin, 1934. Close to the previous one, differing from it in a brighter rusty coloration of the back and a paler color of the "banner". Distribution: Zaisan and, possibly, Alakol depressions.

6. D.s. sowerbyi Thomas, 1908. Close to the previous one, but the size is smaller, and the color of the upperparts is rufous. Distribution: Tuva; Mongolia, Center. China.

Of the above subspecies D. s. lagopus, apparently, has a "collective" character: some individuals do not differ from D. s. innae, and part (South Kazakhstan) belongs to still undescribed forms.

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Upland jerboa – Dipus sagitta (Pallas, 1773)

Inhabitant of deserts and steppes. The body length is up to 14 cm. The hind legs are three-toed with a brush of elongated hair on the fingers, which serves to move along quicksand. On the tail is a black “banner” with a white tip. In danger, it runs away with sharp jumps, constantly changing direction. Distributed in the Lower Volga region, the Caspian region, Kazakhstan, Tuva and Altai. It lives in different types of sands. In a few minutes, it can dig a passage up to 70 cm long, even in dense sand. It digs branched burrows up to 6 meters long and 3 meters deep with one or three emergency exits, closed by "plugs" of sand. It climbs well on the branches of shrubs. It hibernates in the northern parts of its range. Immediately after sunset, the feather-legged jerboa emerges from its burrow. It feeds on seeds and fruits, and also eats insects and their larvae. Young jerboas at first go to feed after their mother in a chain, but after a few days they already dig their own holes. One of the first to inhabit the deserted areas of the drying bottom of the Aral Sea. Natural carrier of plague pathogens.

On the underside of the toes of the hind foot of the upland jerboa there is a well-developed brush of long straight hairs (usually white). The tail banner is well developed. The front surface of the incisors is yellow (in all other three-toed jerboas it is white).

Molar teeth - (false root tooth is well developed). On the outer side of the parietal bones above the base of the zygomatic processes there is only a rounded bulge, without the formation of a sharp ridge or spike. The tops of both drum chambers are in contact with each other, but do not form a close connection between them. The mastoid bones are slightly swollen and, when viewed from above, do not form protrusions on the sides of its posterior part. Penis with two large stylized spines. Body length 105-130 mm, feet 60-65 mm, skull length 30.0-34.3 mm. The coloration of individuals from different points of the range ranges from relatively dark ocher-brownish or brownish-gray to pale ocher-sandy.

The upland jerboa is widespread in the sands of the extreme southeast of the European part of the USSR, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, northern Iran, Xinjiang, Mongolia and northeastern China; in the northwest, the distribution reaches the Prikumsky sands in the eastern Ciscaucasia and the Volga-Don sands to the mouth of the river. Bears; in the Volga-Ural sands found north to Urda and along the river. Ural - to the latitude of Inderborsk; further, the northern border passes (approximately) through the Temir district of the Aktobe region, the sands of Bolshie Barsuki, Muyun-Kum, the sands of the Balkhash region and further northeast to the valley of the river. Irtysh (village Semiyarskoye) and to the ribbon forests of the Altai steppe (village Novenkoe, village Lokot and others of the Rubtsovsky district).

The upland jerboa is a typical inhabitant of hilly and dune sands; in the Rubtsovsky district Altai Territory found in the sands pine forest. Burrows with 1-3 emergency exits, closed with sand plugs: wintering burrows are the most difficult and deep, which can reach a depth of 2.5 m.

It feeds on herbaceous plants, green twigs, flowers and fruits of sandy shrubs, in particular saxaul and kandym, also eats roots and bulbs, and, in addition, also partly feeds on insects. Easily climbs the bushes to get their twigs and fruits. The breeding period is extended (in the Volga-Ural sands up to 4 months), the number of cubs in the litter is 2-5. In the northern parts of the range (Volga-Ural sands) it hibernates, in the south (southern Kara-Kum) it remains active throughout the winter.

The economic value is not great. In places it harms plantings of saxaul and other shrubs planted to fix the sands.

Subspecies of the upland jerboa: 1) D.s. nogai satun. (1907) - the color of the top is dull, brownish-gray with a slight admixture of ocher or reddish tones, the dimensions are relatively large; sands of eastern Ciscaucasia (valley of the Kuma river).

2) D.s. innae Fire. (1930) - brighter, ocher-reddish fur color; sands of the left bank of the lower Volga.

3)D.s. lagopus Lichtenstein (1823) - pale ocher-sand color of fur is characteristic: sands of Central Asia and southern Kazakhstan.

4) D.s. sagitta Pall. (1773) - a relatively dark ocher-brown color with an olive tint; sands of East Kazakhstan and southwestern Siberia (valley of the upper Irtysh, forests of the Pryaaltai steppe).

5) D.s. zaissanensis Selevin (1934) - similar to the previous form; distinguished by a brighter and rustier color of the back fur and a paler color of the black part of the banner; Zaisan basin, adjacent mountains of the Semipalatinsk region.

Upland jerboa somewhat larger than the emanuel. A well-developed brush of straight hairs covers the entire lower surface of the hind toes. Sizes are average (body length 105-140 mm). The coloration of various geographical forms ranges from relatively dark ocher-brownish or brownish-gray to pale ocher-sandy.The front part of the head is relatively long, not as shortened as in earthen hares(Allactaga), the muzzle is not flattened in front, and the nose does not have a “patch” shape. The size of the eye and the nature of the incision of the eyelids are similar to those of five-fingered jerboas.The front surface of the incisors is yellow (in all other representatives of the subfamily, the incisors are white).

Tail length 135-150 mm; foot length 60-65 mm; ear height 15-20 mm. Condylobasal skull length 30.3–34.3 mm; zygomatic width 21.0–24.5; interorbital width 9.7–12.1; length of nasal bones 12.2–15.5; diastema 8–9.5, maxillary row of teeth 5.3–6.8 mm. The hairline is of medium height, thick, soft.

Ears tubularly fused at the base; bent forward, they reach only the middle of the eye. The degree of reduction of the first (inner) finger of the forelimb and the length of its claw as in Allactaga. The hind limbs are three-toed; from the side fingers there were only small bones hidden under the skin. Middle finger longer than half of the metatarsus, and its claw is only slightly shorter than the claws of the lateral fingers. The hind foot from below, like the lower surface of the fingers, with a “brush” of short coarse hair not adjacent to the foot. The pads of the fingers are slightly compressed from the sides and not enlarged, their outer edge is slightly "serrated". There is no conical callus at the base of the middle fingers of the hind limb. Tail without fat thickening. "Znamya" is well developed. The fur is not very long.

The median crest of the os penis is located on its shaft (not on the basal plate) in its main part. Antero-outer corners of the basal plate are not pronounced and rounded. On the lower surface of the penis, the median longitudinal fissure begins only from the middle of the length of the penis; on each side of it there is another deep slit, starting from the base and reaching almost to its top. Two long stylized spikes are well developed. The protrusion on the outer side of the parietale does not form a sharp ridge or spike, but only a wide rounded bulge.

In the structure of the trunk skeleton, the presence of middle metatarsal bones fused into a tarsus is combined with a complete reduction of the phalanges and metapodia of the lateral fingers. Pelvic bone with double pubic tubercle; the femur is shorter than that of other three-toed jerboas, with a wide entrance to the intertrochanteric depression characteristic of them. The structure of the cervical vertebrae is characterized the following signs: the boundaries between the fused bodies of the 2nd-6th cervical vertebrae are quite clearly visible; the borders between the fused neural arches of the same vertebrae are equally visible. The distal ends of the transverse processes of the 5th and 6th vertebrae are completely fused with each other; the apex of the spinous process is pointed and slightly deviated forward. On the sides of the ventral side of the fused cervical complex of vertebrae, there are 4 openings between the free parts of the transverse processes. The accrete part of the small tibia relatively small. The middle metatarsal process of the tarsus is narrower than the lateral ones, does not protrude anteriorly in relation to them, and is shortened, protruding downwards beyond the longest of the lateral ones by no more than its distal width. The middle finger of the hind limb of the upland jerboa is also thinner than the lateral ones.

Subspecies: 1) Dipus sagitta nogai satun. (1907) - the color of the top is dull, brownish-gray with a slight admixture of ocher or reddish tones, the dimensions are relatively large; sands of eastern Ciscaucasia (valley of the Kuma river).
2) D.s. innae Fire. (1930) - brighter, ocher-reddish fur color; sands of the left bank of the lower Volga.
3) D.s. lagopus Lichtenstein (1823) - pale ocher-sand color of fur is characteristic: sands of Central Asia and southern Kazakhstan.
4) D.s. sagitta Pall. (1773) - a relatively dark ocher-brown color with an olive tint; sands of East Kazakhstan and southwestern Siberia (valley of the upper Irtysh, forests of the Altai steppe).
5) D.s. zaissanensis Selevin (1934) - similar to the previous form; distinguished by a brighter and rustier color of the back fur and a paler color of the black part of the banner; Zaisan basin, adjacent mountains of the Semipalatinsk region.

Literature:
1. Fokin I. M. Jerboas. Series: The life of our birds and animals. Issue 2. Publishing house Leningrad. un-ta, 1978. 184 p.
2. Photo: Yu.K. Zinchenko, Siberian Zoological Museum
3. B.S. Vinogradov. Jerboas. Mammals vol. III, no. 4. Fauna of the USSR. Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1937