Deb Rebel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>>I apologize ahead of time since my question is actually about my hamster
>>instead of my gerbil. I have a siberian hamster
>
>There is no such thing. This is a misnomer spread by pet stores.
>You probably have a dwarf campbell hamster. They are often labelled
>'siberian' by pet stores....there is a variety of dwarf hamster, 'Russian
>Winter White' which is very rare. So...
Technically, the Sungorian Hamster (Phodopus sungorus) and Campbell's
Hamster (P. campbelli) are different species, although to most intents
and purposes they look the same except that Cambell's go white in
winter.
They were thought to be different subspecies of the Sungorian species,
but are now known not to produce fully fertile young when hybridised.
According to Mammalian Species, a Journal of the American Society of
Mammologists, Siberian Hamster, and Djungarian Hamster has been used by
zoologists as a common name for both species. It considers that Siberian
Hamster should be used for the Sungorian Species, and that Djungorian
should be used for the Campbell's species.
I prefer Sungorian and Campbells for the obvious reason as they are the
species names scientific names so leave no room for confusion.
Roboroski's (P. roboroskii) are another related Russian dwarf hamster
that is often kept as a pet but is visually distinct.
Interestingly, all three species, although called Russian Dwarf
hamsters, the only bit of Russia they live in a small strip along the
border with Mongolia. Roboroskii's and Campbell's live almost
exclusively in Mongolia and Northern China. Sungorian hamsters mainly
live in Kazakhstan.
--
Julian
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Gerbil Society
http://www.gerbils.co.uk/
