Indian desert jird

The Indian desert jird (Meriones hurrianae), also called the Indian desert gerbil, is a jird found mainly in the Thar Desert of India, with a range running from southeastern Iran and Pakistan to northwestern India, including Rajasthan and Gujarat. It has a grey-brown coat with a yellowish-grey belly, a body about 12 to 14 centimetres long and a tail of 10 to 15 centimetres. Short ears, long black claws and orange incisors help to identify it. Jirds are close relatives of gerbils but lack the long hind feet and upright posture of a gerbil, and a jird has a tail shorter than its head and body and much shorter ears. This species is diurnal, unlike the three common gerbil species of India, which are nocturnal. It prefers firm soil in desert and barren country and avoids pure sand dunes and rocky outcrops. Gregarious, it digs burrow complexes with at least two entrances, often in the shade of a tree or at the base of bushes, and it feeds on seeds, roots, nuts, grasses and insects. The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern.