Gerbils and Jirds
Family Muridae (Gerbillinae)
Mammalian Hybrids
EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD GENETICS, ΦΒΚ
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Note: Zahavi and Wahrmann (1957, p. 360) say that each of the Meriones crosses that they report are easily obtained.
Meriones crassus [Sundevall’s Jird]
See also: Meriones libycus × M. shawi.
× Meriones sacramenti (♂) [Buxton’s Jird] CHR. CON: Israel (southwest of Dead Sea). Zahavi and Wahrman 1957 (p. 360).
× Meriones shawi [Shaw’s Jird] CHR. CON: northern Africa, Middle East. See M. libycus × M. shawi. Koffler 1972; Lataste 1887.
× Meriones tristrami (↔) [Tristrams’s Jird] CHR. CON: Israel (south of Dead Sea). Zahavi and Wahrman 1957 (p. 360).
Meriones libycus [Libyan Jird] (2n = 44)
See also: Meriones crassus.
× Meriones shawi (usu. ♀) [Shaw’s Jird] CHR. ENHI. CON: northern Africa, Middle East. HPF(♀♀). Backcrosses to both parents have been produced from female hybrids; those to M. shawi included partially fertile males. A website (SCHU) lists a three-way hybrid with Meriones crassus. Qumsiyeh (1995, pp. 257-258) says jirds in Israel and Jordan are in many respects morphologically intermediate. There, and in other regions where libycus and shawi occur together, the former is the more inland form (shawi’srange is Mediterranean littoral). Cohen et al. 1971; Lay and Nadler 1969; Lataste 1887. Internet Citations: JIRD.
× Meriones tristrami (♂) [Tristrams’s Jird] CHR? CON: Iran? HPF(♀♀). Hybrids of both sexes have been reported. They are heterotic with respect to vigor and growth. The testes of one mature hybrid contained no spermatozoa. In hybrids the diploid chromosome number is 2n=58. Matthey 1957 (p. 147).
Meriones sacramenti [Buxton’s Jird]
See also: Meriones crassus.
× Meriones shawi (♂) [Shaw’s Jird] CHR. CON: Israel. Zahavi and Wahrman 1957 (p. 360).
× Meriones tristrami (♀) [Tristrams’s Jird] CHR. CON: coastal Israel. Zahavi and Wahrman 1957 (p. 360).
Meriones shawi [Shaw’s Jird] (2n = 72). See: Meriones crassus; M. libycus; M. sacramenti.
Meriones tristrami [Tristrams’s Jird] See: Meriones crassus; M. libycus; M. sacramenti.
Tatera afra [Cape Gerbil]
× Tatera brandsii (↔) [Highveld Gerbil] CHR. DRS. HPF(♀♀). Some male hybrids may also be fertile in some degree: while abnormal spermatozoa were noted in hybrids, sperm quality varied from one individual to another (no spermatozoa were present in some while apparently normal levels of sperm activity were seen in others). Dempster 1996; Dempster et al. 1996; Taylor 2000.
Tatera brandsii [Highveld Gerbil] See: Tatera afra.
A dog-cow hybrid?
By the same author: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World, Oxford University Press (2006).