Mammals of the WorldMongolian Hairy-footed Hamster
Cricetiscus campbelli
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Cricetidae
- Genus
- Cricetiscus
- IUCN status
- LC (as Phodopus campbelli)
- Distribution
- Russia|Mongolia|China
- Realm
- Palearctic
Other names: Campbell's Hamster|Campbell's Desert Hamster
About this species
- Size
- Head and body 8.0–10.3cm; tail 0.4–1.4cm
- Weight
- Averaged 23.4g in wild-caught animals near Manjur and Hulun Lake
- Habitat
- Steppes and semi-deserts
- Range
- Mongolia, northeast China, Dauria, Tuva and the Altai in southern Siberia
Campbell's dwarf hamster is 8–10 centimetres long. The soft fur on top is greyish-brown-yellow with a dark dorsal stripe, and the underside fur is cream to brown-yellow, running up the flanks in three brown-yellow arches. Head-and-body length is 80–103 millimetres and the tail 4–14 millimetres, with hind paws of 12–18 millimetres and ears of 13–15 millimetres. Few weights are given from the wild; hamsters caught near Manjur and Hulun Lake in northern Manchuria averaged 23.4 grams, and under natural conditions males start to outgrow females after 45 days and are significantly heavier after 145 days. (German Wikipedia, general species account)
It is placed either as a subspecies of the Djungarian dwarf hamster or, as here, as a species of the genus Cricetiscus. It inhabits the steppes and semi-deserts of Mongolia, northeast China, Dauria, Tuva and the Altai in southern Siberia and is not threatened. (German Wikipedia, general species account)
Description: Wildlife of Mongolia guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)