Jaculus (rodent)

For the winged snake of mythology and medieval European heraldry, see Jaculus.

Jaculus Temporal range: Middle Miocene - Recent
Jaculus orientalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Placentalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Dipodidae
Subfamily:	Dipodinae
Tribe:	Dipodini
Genus:	Jaculus Erxleben, 1777
Type species
Mus jaculus Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Jaculus blanfordi Jaculus jaculus Jaculus orientalis

The genus Jaculus is a member of the Dipodinae subfamily of dipodoid rodents (jerboas). Jaculus species are distributed in desert and semi-arid regions across northern Africa, the Sahara, the Horn of Africa, Arabia, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

Collectively, the species within the genus may be commonly referred to as "desert jerboas", although this more particularly applied to the lesser Egyptian jerboa (Jaculus jaculus).

Species

The following species are recognised for the genus Jaculus:

• Blanford's jerboa, Jaculus blanfordi
• Lesser Egyptian jerboa, Jaculus jaculus
• Greater Egyptian jerboa, Jaculus orientalis
• Thaler's jerboa Jaculus thaleri
• African hammada jerboa Jaculus hirtipes

Sources

• Holden, M. E. and G. G. Musser. 2005. Family Dipodidae. pp. 871–893 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
• Myers, P.; R. Espinosa; C. S. Parr; T. Jones; G. S. Hammond; T. A. Dewey (2006). "Genus Jaculus". The Animal Diversity Web (online). The Regents of the University of Michigan. Retrieved 2012-02-26.