Fat Sand Rat
| Class: Mammalia:
Mammals |
Diet: Seeds, vegetation |
| Order:
Rodentia: Rodents |
| Size: body:14
- 18.5 cm (5 1/2 - 7 1/4 in), tail: 12 - 15 cm (4 3/4 - 6 in) |
| Family: Gerbillinae:
Gerbils |
Conservation Status:
Non-threatened |
| Scientific Name:
Psammomys obesus |
Habitat: sandy desert |
| Range:
Algeria, east to Saudi Arabia |
 The
fat sand rat overcomes the problem of the unpredictability of desert food
supplies by laying down a thick layer of fat all over its body when food
is abundant. It then lives off this fat when food is short. Active day
and night, this gerbil darts about collecting seeds and other vegetation
which it carries back to its burrow. In early spring, a brood chamber
is made and lined with finely shredded vegetation, and the first litter
of the year is born in March. There are usually 3 to 5 young in a litter,
and the breeding season continues until late summer.
  
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