Greater Egyptian gerbil

The greater Egyptian gerbil (Gerbillus pyramidum) is a small rodent in the family Muridae, native to northern Africa, where it lives in sandy deserts, semi-arid country, palm groves, cultivated land, dunes and oases. It is somewhat larger than its relative the lesser Egyptian gerbil, with a head-and-body length near 120 millimetres and a tail of about 156 millimetres, orange or light brown fur with grey hair bases, white underparts, white feet and often a dark tuft at the tail tip. Its range runs from Mauritania and Mali eastwards through Niger and Chad to Sudan, Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, and it is common in the Nile Delta and Nile Valley. Nocturnal and terrestrial, it spends the day in a burrow, often in colonies, and feeds on seeds and grasses, some of which it stores. Captive animals live about two years. The IUCN rates it Least Concern because its range is wide and its population presumed large.