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North African jird - MERIONES LIBYCUS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Jird": "Jird" is unknown.
Location: Northern Africa.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Desert and arid environments in general.
Description: The jird’s back is pale in color but tends to have a brown marking running along the middle. The sides and underside of the body are paler, while the tail is darker. The coat on the upper part is longer than on the rest of its body. The jird can grow to ten inches long, four inches of which are tail. It weighs a little over two ounces.
Behavior: This jird may live in large colonies, which dig and share burrows in sand and soft soil. The burrows have many entrances and passages. It may also be solitary. It moves about by day and night in search of seeds, roots, bulbs, and leaves. This species may hibernate in the coldest months of the year, which is certainly the case with other species in this same genus which live in the upland plateaus of Asia.
Reproduction: Gestation lasts four weeks, and reproduction occurs several times a year, but mainly in the summer months. There are three to seven young per litter.
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