Fat sand rat
Species of mammals belonging to the mouse and rat family and to the gerbil subfamily of rodents / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The fat sand rat (Psammomys obesus) is a terrestrial mammal from the gerbil subfamily that is mostly found in North Africa and the Middle East, ranging from Mauritania to the Arabian Peninsula.[2] This species usually lives in sandy deserts, but may also be found in rocky terrain or saline marsh areas.[3] Fat sand rats are very selective in their diet, only eating stems and leaves of plants from the family Amaranthaceae, more commonly known as the amaranth family.[4] In captivity, fat sand rats can become obese and rapidly develop diabetes-like symptoms when fed the diet typically given to other rodents.[5][6] P. obesus has an average lifespan of 14 months in the wild and 3–4 years in captivity.[3]
Fat sand rat | |
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A fat sand rat in Morocco | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Muridae |
Genus: | Psammomys |
Species: | P. obesus |
Binomial name | |
Psammomys obesus Cretzschmar, 1828 | |