Jumpin' Jerboas!

What has ears larger than its head and loves to jump? A long-eared jerboa, of course, and now you can see it in action on video. Investigators in the Gobi Desert of China where these little mouselike critters live have captured them-on film-for the first time. Their one and only habitat is extremely remote, and since they come out from their burrows to hunt insects only at night, very little is known about them.

But human activities such as livestock grazing are destroying this jerboa's habitat, so scientists are hurrying to count and study the tiny animal. It has already been classified as endangered.

Though its body is only three inches long, this little darling measures about nine inches when you count its ears and tail.

To see a video of the jerboa

* Visit www.edgeofexistence.org/conservation/long_earedjerboa.asp.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Apr 2008
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