Fat-tailed gerbil

Species of rodent

The fat tailed gerbil (Pachyuromys duprasi), also called the duprasi gerbil or doop, is a rodent belonging to the subfamily Gerbillinae. It is only species in the genus Pachyuromys. They are frequently kept as pets. Other common English names are: fat tailed jird, fat tailed rat, and beer mat gerbil.

The fat tailed gerbil is a medium sized gerbil. Its body length is about , with a tail length of about The hair at the back and the head is yellow coloured, with a dark grey base and a small black tip. The belly is white. Fat tailed gerbils weigh between in the wild, but in captivity can weigh between Their body is round and somewhat flattened. They have no clear neck and a very sharp face, with large oval shaped black eyes. They look similar to a dwarf hamster, but unlike a hamster they have a pointed snout and a fat, almost bald, club shaped tail. The fat tailed gerbil stores fat in its tail in the same way that the camel stores fat in its hump. Captive specimens of the fat tailed gerbil have an average life span of between 2 and 4 years.

The French zoologist Fernand Lataste first described Pachyuromys duprasi in 1880 in Laghouat, Algeria in Le Naturaliste. Fat tailed gerbils are native to the Northern Sahara (North western Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria). There they live in sparsely vegetated sand sheets or rocky deserts. In the wild, fat tailed gerbils live in simple burrows about one meter deep, in hard sandy soil. They may also occupy other species' burrows.

Fat tailed gerbils are mostly insectivorous in the wild, but will eat also a variety of plants. The mating ritual of the fat tailed gerbil may also be confused with fighting. Fat tailed gerbils, like most other rodents, have scent glands on their stomach and engage in marking their territory by stretching out and rubbing their bellies on the ground and furnishings.

Fat tailed gerbils sexually mature when they are around two months old, and the gestation period is 19 to 21 days. Their average litter size is three to six, and the pups are weaned at three to four weeks.