Communication in this species has not been described. However, because they are somewhat social, it is likely that they have some tactile communication. As in other rodents, they probably use some vocalizations and visual cues to communicate also.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
US Migratory Bird Act: no special status
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
This species is considered a pest through out its entire range. These gerbils have been known to damage crops, irrigation cannals, and embankments of roads and railways. In Central Asia these mammals carry disease like the plague and the skin disease Leishmaniasis.
Negative Impacts: crop pest; causes or carries domestic animal disease
This species is trapped for its skins in some places.
Positive Impacts: body parts are source of valuable material
R. opimus provides a source of food for predators like owls and hawks. The burrow systems they create may also affect the ecosystems they inhabit, and enhance soil aeration. because they cache food, they probably play some role in seed dispersal.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds; soil aeration
R. opimus feeds on a variety of plants, seeds, fruits, stems, roots, bulbs, and shrubs. Living in desert habitats, this gerbil must rely on metabolic water found in plants. Seeds permeated with dew are collected at night and brought back to the burrow. Relatively high humidity inside the burrow produces improved water content in the seeds. In areas where the winter snow pack may cover the burrow entrance for weeks, this species is known to store food. This food is stored in compartments located inside the burrow. Also, when food is abundant these gerbils are known to store leaves in a pile on the surface next to the entrance. Piles have been measured as high as three feet tall and ten feet long.
Foraging Behavior: stores or caches food
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore , Frugivore , Granivore ); coprophage
Great gerbils, Rhombomys opimus, are distributed through out Central Asia, from the Caspian Sea to Southern Mongolia and North-Central China. In the Middle East they are found in Iran, Afghanistan, and western Pakistan. Great gerbil are also said to inhabit areas of Southwestern Russia.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native )
Great gerbils inhabit the deserts of Central Asia. They are most abundant in sand and clay deserts, usually in foothill and mountain areas. This species of gerbil prefers subsandy soil where it creates elaborate multichambered burrows. These burrows are found from 1.5-2.5 m below the surface. These animals will also inhabit agricultural areas. They dammage crops because they hoard grains and vegetation for the winter.
Habitat Regions: temperate
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune
Other Habitat Features: agricultural
Lifespan varies from male to female. The males maximum lifespan is 2 to 3 years and the female lives 3 to 4 years.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 2 to 4 years.
Average lifespan
Sex: female
Status: wild: 4.0 years.
Average lifespan
Sex: male
Status: wild: 3.0 years.
This is the largest species of gerbil with a body length ranging from 150 to 200 mm and a tail length of 130 to 60 mm. The upper body is yellowish-orange, or dark grayish-yellow, matching the sandy deserts they inhabit. Great gerbils spend the winter under snowpack and has thick, dense, soft fur and a fairly long-haired tail. The body is stocky. The claws are long and sharpto help it dig its burrows.
Range length: 210 to 330 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average mass: 285 g.
Great gerbils have a number of anti-predator adaptations that they utilize in order to survive the harsh enviroments they occupy. Their sandy colored backs blend in with the desert floor making it difficult for air-pursuit predators to locate them. They have a large middle ear, allowing them to hear low-frequency sounds made by the wings of owls and raptors, and helping them to evade such predators. These animals have large eyes, which enable them to have an open field of vision. R. opimus is mostly diurnal, foraging during low light hours to avoid predators. The tuft of hair on the end of the tail is believed to be a predator decoy. A bird of prey might hit the tail, allowing the gerbil enough time to escape.
The mating system of this species has not been reported.
Rhombomys opimus is gregarious and often individuals will burrow close to one another. This forms a network of burrowing tunnels, creating a colony. Females are polyestrous and depending on the conditions will breed multiple times during a season. The breeding season, which comes after the rainy season, lasts from April to September and each female will produce on average two or three litters. The gestation period is 23 to 32 days and the litter size ranges from 1 to 14 young although the average observed litter size in the wild is 4-7 young. Females can reach sexual maturity at 3 to 4 months of age.
Breeding interval: Females can produce two or three litters per year.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs between April and September.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 14.
Average number of offspring: 4-7.
Range gestation period: 23 to 32 days.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 3 to 4 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Average birth mass: 4.75 g.
Average number of offspring: 5.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 105 days.
Little has been reported about the parental care of this species. Females nurse their young, which are probably altricial. The role of the male in parental care is not known.
Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care ; pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
The great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) is a large rodent found throughout much of Central Asia.
The largest of the gerbils, great gerbils have a head and body length of 15–20 cm (6–8 in). Their skulls are distinctive by having two grooves in each incisor. They have large front claws used for burrowing.[2]
Great gerbils are found in arid habitats, predominantly in sandy or clay deserts. They are found in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.[1]
The great gerbil is preyed on by foxes, owls, kites, wildcats, weasels, vultures, and cobras.
Great gerbils live in family groups and occupy one burrow per family.[3] Their burrows can be fairly extensive with separate chambers for nests and food storage. Great gerbils spend considerably more time in the burrows during winter, but do not hibernate. They are predominantly diurnal. Food consists mostly of vegetable matter.[2]
The animals are often colonial. Longevity is 2–4 years. Burrow system complexes have a distinctive region of cleared soil and can be seen and mapped from aerial photos and satellite images.[4] Inhabited great gerbil burrows can be distinguished from abandoned burrows using satellite images.[5]
Great gerbils are known reservoirs of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, and of Leishmania major, the causative agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. They are also known as crop pests and have been implicated in exacerbating erosion.
The great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) is a large rodent found throughout much of Central Asia.
