Hairy-footed gerbil

The hairy-footed gerbil, Gerbillurus paeba, is a small rodent of southern Africa, recorded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. It lives in dry savanna, temperate shrubland, hot deserts, sandy shores and even urban areas, and it prefers sandy soil or sandy alluvium with grass, scrub or light woodland cover. It weighs around 27 grams, with a head and body about 9 centimetres long and a tail about 11 centimetres, which makes it smaller than the other members of its genus. All of them carry tufts of hair on the soles of their feet and hairs on each toe. The upper parts range from reddish-orange to greyish-red depending on locality, the underparts are always white, and the tail matches the upper body. It is nocturnal and terrestrial, living in burrows with several entrances hidden at the base of bushes and clumps of grass, and it feeds on grass, bushes, fallen thorn tree seed pods, raisin bush seeds and insects. Individuals groom one another socially.