Algerian gerbil

The Algerian gerbil (Gerbillus garamantis) is a small rodent found mainly in Algeria, where it lives in the arid zones of the south. It is a rather small gerbil with reddish brown fur above, a white underside and a long, sparsely haired tail that ends in a pencil of brown hairs, and adults measure roughly 74 to 78 millimetres from head to body. It is probably nocturnal and terrestrial and digs burrows. The species was described by Lataste in 1881 from Sidi Roueld near Ouargla. Some authors treat it as a subspecies of the dwarf gerbil, while others, including recent mammal handbooks, consider it a species in its own right. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has not assessed it separately from the dwarf gerbil, which is classed as Least Concern.