Pygmy Jerboas

rodents of the family Dipopidae. The body length measures up to 5.5 cm. Covered with sparse hair, the tail sometimes has a thin tuft on the end and is often greatly thickened (by fat storage). There are two genera— Cardiocranius (five-toed pygmy jerboas) with one species and Salpingotus (three-toed pygmy jerboas) with five species. Pygmy jerboas live in the deserts of Middle and Central Asia and Pakistan and, perhaps, in southern Afghanistan. In the USSR, the Satunin’s pygmy jerboa (Cardiocranius paradoxus) is found in southern Tuva and in the vicinity of Lake Balkhash. Two species of the genus Salpingotus dwell in southeastern Kazakhstan and inKarakalpakia (in the Aral Region of the Karakum). The most common is the fat-tailed pygmy jerboa (Salpingotus crassicauda).