Urocricetus

Urocricetus Temporal range: Late Miocene to Recent
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Cricetinae
Genus:	Urocricetus Satunin, 1903[1]
Type species
Cricetulus kamensis (Satunin, 1903)[2]
Species
Urocricetus alticola (Thomas, 1917) Urocricetus kamensis Satunin, 1903

Urocricetus is a genus of hamsters found on the Tibetan Plateau in southern Asia. These species have relatively long tails for a hamster, with brownish upperparts and a pure white underside.

Taxonomy

The genus Urocricetus was originally described by the Russian zoologist Konstantin Satunin as a subgenus of Cricetus. Urocricetus would be sometimes recognized as a subgenus of Cricetulus until 2018, when a phylogenetic study revealed this genus to be valid. This genus is a sister taxa to the desert hamster genus Phodopus.^[2]

As of 2024, two closely related species are recognized in this genus:^[2]

• Urocricetus alticola - Ladakh dwarf hamster, native to the western Nepal, northern India, and the Chinese autonomous region of Tibet
• Urocricetus kamensis - Kam dwarf hamster, native to the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Qinghai and the autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang

The species Cricetulus lama and Cricetulus tibetanus are recognized as valid by the IUCN^[3][4] but considered a synonym of Urocricetus kamensis by the American Society of Mammalogists.^[5] Both of these possibly valid species live on the Tibetan Plateau,^[3][4] while the other valid Cricetulus species occur further north and northeast of the Tibetan Plateau.^[6][7][8] More research is needed for this genus at the species level.^[2]

References

1. Satunin, K. A. (April 1903). "Neue Nagetiere aus Centralasien". Ежегодникь Зоологическаго Музея. 7: 573–574. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
2. Lebedev, V. S.; Bannikova, A. A.; Neumann, K.; Ushakova, M. V.; Ivanova, N. V.; Surov, A. V. (26 February 2018). "Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of dwarf hamsters Cricetulus Milne-Edwards, 1867 (Cricetidae, Rodentia): description of a new genus and reinstatement of another". Zootaxa. 4387 (2). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4387.2.5. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
3. Smith, A.T.; Johnston, C.H. (2017). "Cricetulus tibetanus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T136527A22390916. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T136527A22390916.en. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
4. Smith, A.T.; Johnston, C.H. (2017). "Cricetulus lama". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T136746A22391088. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T136746A22391088.en. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
5. "Urocricetus kamensis Satunin, 1903". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
6. Batsaikhan, N.; Smith, A.T. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Cricetulus sokolovi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T5527A115073247. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T5527A22391689.en. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
7. Batsaikhan, A.; Tinnin, D.; Lhagvasuren, B.; Sukhchuluun, G. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Cricetulus longicaudatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T5526A115073116. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T5526A22391246.en. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
8. Batsaikhan, N.; Tinnin, D.; Shar, S.; Avirmed, D.; Usukhjargal, D. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Cricetulus barabensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T5524A115072992. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T5524A22391002.en. Retrieved 9 December 2024.