Great gerbil

The great gerbil, Rhombomys opimus, is a large rodent found throughout much of Central Asia and the largest of the gerbils, with a head and body length of 15 to 20 centimetres. Its skull is distinctive because each incisor carries two grooves, and its large front claws are used for burrowing. It lives in arid habitats, mainly sandy or clay deserts, in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. Great gerbils live in family groups with one burrow per family. The burrows can be extensive, with separate chambers for nests and food storage, and the burrow complexes can be seen and mapped in aerial and satellite images. The animals spend more time in their burrows in winter but do not hibernate, are predominantly diurnal, eat mostly vegetable matter and live two to four years. Foxes, owls, kites, wildcats, weasels, vultures and cobras prey on them. They are known reservoirs of the plague bacterium and of Leishmania major, and are crop pests.