Steppe Zokor

About this species

Diet

Roots and other underground plant parts

Habitat

Steppe soils suitable for tunnelling

The steppe zokor is a powerfully built subterranean rodent with a cylindrical body, reduced external ears and eyes, and extremely long front claws. Its dense fur is generally brownish to grey, and the short tail carries little hair. Unlike moles, zokors are rodents and excavate chiefly with the forefeet rather than the snout. The projecting incisors and muscular head help loosen roots and soil inside narrow tunnels. (Mammal Diversity Database; Wikipedia, zokor overview)

Steppe zokors spend nearly all their lives in branching burrow systems beneath steppe vegetation. They feed on roots, bulbs and other underground plant material, sometimes pulling whole plants into a tunnel from below. Soil from new passages is pushed to the surface as conspicuous mounds, usually the easiest evidence of presence. The species is accepted from Mongolia by the Mammal Diversity Database, but the opened sources did not support a named national locality, breeding schedule or detailed regional habitat account. (Mammal Diversity Database; Wikipedia, zokor overview)

Description: Wildlife of Mongolia guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)