Golden hamster
The golden hamster or Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) is a hamster from a small area of northern Syria. Nearly all the golden hamsters kept in laboratories and homes descend from a few animals caught there in 1930.[1]
Classification
It was first described in 1839 by Waterhouse, as Cricetus auratus, from the skin and skull of a female. Nehring placed it in the genus Mesocricetus in 1902, and in 1940 Ellerman showed that Mesocricetus is a distinct genus.[1] The genus includes Brandt's, Romanian and Ciscaucasian hamsters. Its members are smaller than the common hamster, with very short tails, relatively large ears and cheek pouches, and black markings on the face.[2] The golden hamster has 44 chromosomes.[2]
Description
Adults are about 12 to 16.5 cm from head to rump, with a tail of only 13 to 15 mm, and weigh about 80 to 150 g.[2] The back is a rich golden orange, slightly darker along the middle, and the belly is creamy white. The facial markings vary.[2][3] There are large cheek pouches, and scent glands on the flanks, larger in males, are used to mark territory.[4] Most domestic animals are paler than wild ones.[2]
Distribution and habitat
In the wild it is found only in a small area of north-west Syria near Aleppo, where it lives in dry rocky steppe, on scrubby slopes and in grain fields.[1][2] It has also been reported from Turkey, and expeditions to northern Syria and southern Turkey in 1997 and 1999 confirmed that it still lives in the wild.[1][3] As land in its range has been farmed, it has become linked with fields, and burrows are often found in plots of legumes or near irrigation wells.[3]
Behaviour
Golden hamsters are mainly nocturnal and live alone, apart from mothers with litters, and adults fight readily.[1][4][2] Each digs a burrow up to 2 m deep, with chambers for storing grain.[2][1] They eat mainly grain, especially wheat, but also green plants, roots, fruit and insects.[2][1]
History
In 1930 the zoologist I. Aharoni went to Syria to collect hamsters for Saul Adler of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who studied the disease leishmaniasis and wanted a species that bred well in captivity. A team dug out a burrow on a farm about 30 km from Aleppo and found a nest 2.5 m underground with a female and 11 young. Some escaped, and the accounts of how many survivors were left differ, but the first captive litters came from three or four of them.[1] Adler sent animals to England in 1931, and they reached the United States by 1938. Because almost all laboratory and pet golden hamsters descend from these few survivors, the domestic stock has a very narrow genetic base.[1] Later wild-caught animals were added, including stock taken to Germany after the 1997 and 1999 expeditions.[1]
Status
The IUCN Red List assessed the golden hamster in 2019 as Endangered, with a decreasing population.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Smith, Gerald D. (2011). "Taxonomy and History". In Suckow, Mark A.; Stevens, Karla A.; Wilson, Ronald P. (eds.). The Laboratory Rabbit, Guinea Pig, Hamster, and Other Rodents. Academic Press. ISBN 9780123809216.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Aulagnier, Stéphane; Haffner, Patrick; Mitchell-Jones, A. J.; Moutou, François; Zima, Jan (2025). Field Guide to Mammals of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East (3rd ed.). Bloomsbury. pp. 76–79. ISBN 9781399414944.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Champagne, A. (2006). "Mesocricetus auratus". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Murray, Kathleen A. (2011). "Anatomy, Physiology, and Behavior". In Suckow, Mark A.; Stevens, Karla A.; Wilson, Ronald P. (eds.). The Laboratory Rabbit, Guinea Pig, Hamster, and Other Rodents. Academic Press. ISBN 9780123809216.
- ↑ Kennerley, R.; Middleton, K. (2022). "Mesocricetus auratus". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T13219A107411865.en. Retrieved 2 November 2026.