jird 
(jûrd)
(jûrd)n.
Any of various small burrowing rodents chiefly of the genus Meriones found in arid regions of Africa and Asia, having large dark eyes and a long furry tail and including the domesticated gerbil.
[Colloquial Maghrebi Arabic jird, rat, jird, ultimately from Arabic juraḏ; see grḏ in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]