Highveld gerbil

The highveld gerbil (Gerbilliscus brantsii) is a rodent of southern Africa, recorded in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Andrew Smith described it in 1836. It is a medium-sized, soft-furred gerbil with a head-and-body length of about 135 millimetres, a narrow head with long whiskers and a pointed snout, large eyes, a white chin and long rounded ears. The upper parts are pale rufous-brown and the underparts whitish or pale buffy-grey, while the long tail matches the back for its proximal half and is white for the distal half. It favours grassy plains with scrub or open woodland on sandy soils and also occurs around marshes and pans on peaty soils. Highveld gerbils are sociable and dig a complex burrow, up to about six metres long, with several entrances and a single nesting chamber. They are nocturnal, mostly active around dusk and dawn, and eat plant material with a small proportion of insects. Females may have five or six litters a year. The IUCN rates the species Least Concern.