NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Brandt's Hamster
Mesocricetus brandti (Nehring, 1898)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Turkish hamster (Mesocricetus brandti), also referred to as Brandt's hamster, Azerbaijani hamster, or avurtlak, is a species of hamster native to Turkey, Azerbaijan and other surrounding nations. The Turkish hamster, first catalogued in 1878, is a fairly close relative of the Syrian or golden hamster, though far less is known about it, and it is rarely kept as a pet. The population of the Turkish hamster is said to be declining in the wild, yet this hamster is often used in laboratory testing. Turkish hamsters have lifespans of about two years and are solitary, nocturnal animals, which hibernate.
They are reported to be more aggressive than other members of the family Cricetidae. They are tan and dark, sandy brown in color. Like all hamsters, the Turkish hamster has cheek pouches that allow it to carry large amounts of food at one time.
It is named after Johann Friedrich von Brandt, a German-born Russian zoologist and first Director of the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Science in St. Petersburg.
Wikipedia contributors, Turkish hamster; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:14:29.024115+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mesocricetus brandti (Nehring, 1898)
- Name authority
- (Nehring, 1898)
- Common name
- Brandt's Hamster
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Cricetidae
- Genus
- Mesocricetus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyCricetidae Fischer, 1817
- subfamilyCricetinae Fischer, 1817
- genusMesocricetus Nehring, 1898
- speciesMesocricetus brandti (Nehring, 1898)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mesocricetus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Golden HamsterMesocricetus auratus (Waterhouse, 1839) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Romanian HamsterMesocricetus newtoni (Nehring, 1898) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ciscaucasian HamsterMesocricetus raddei (Nehring, 1894) | CricetidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Mesocricetus koenigi Nehring, 1900 Nehring, 1900 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632736 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4237Y. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.