| Greater long-tailed hamster Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Recent | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Cricetinae |
| Genus: | Tscherskia Ognev, 1914 |
| Species: | T. triton |
| Binomial name | |
| Tscherskia triton (De Winton, 1899) | |
The greater long-tailed hamster (Tscherskia triton) is a major crop-eating rodent that resides in Northern China. It is the only member of the genus Tscherskia. Some authorities maintain that the 15th gua of the Yi Jing (I Ching) refers repeatedly to this animal. The animal has been a major pest since ancient times and also has a habit of standing up on its rear legs and screaming loudly.
The genetic diversity of Tscherskia triton has a positive correlation to population density when using microsatellite markers.
Climate change and human activity have had an influence on the genetic variation of this species.[2]
References
- ^ Tsytsulina, K. (2008). "Tscherskia triton". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.
- ^ Dong, Jingping; Li, Chuanhai; Zhang, Zhibin (2010). "Density-Dependent Genetic Variation in Dynamic Populations of the Greater Long-Tailed Hamster (Tscherskia triton)". Journal of Mammalogy. 91 (1): 200–207. ISSN 0022-2372.