Shaw's Jird

Open encyclopedia reference

Shaw's jird (Meriones shawi) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Its natural habitats are arable land, pastureland, and rural gardens. The Shaw's jird is a relatively large, gerbil-like rodent about the size of a rat. An adult male may grow to 14 inches (36 cm) long including the tail, which comprises about half this length. Males tend to be slightly larger and more heavily built (up to 6 ounces (170 g)) than females (5 ounces (140 g). The animal has a sandy base coat that is usually quite dark, although it can be found in lighter shades. Occasionally there is a white head spot. Jirds have larger, less hairy ears than a Mongolian gerbil. The Shaw's jird is able to survive long periods of dehydration in semi-desert regions where it lives, in part because of its well-developed kidneys. A Shaw's jird can mate 224 times in two hours. During the rainy season, Shaw's jirds breed more than in the summer when there is less rain.

Wikipedia contributors, Shaw's jird; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:16:38.702583+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Meriones (Pallasiomys) shawi (Duvernoy, 1842)

Name authority

(Duvernoy, 1842)

Common name

Shaw's Jird

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Muridae

Genus

Meriones

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
13. superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
14. familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
15. subfamilyGerbillinae Gray, 1825
16. genusMeriones Illiger, 1811
17. subgenusPallasiomys Heptner, 1933
18. speciesMeriones (Pallasiomys) shawi (Duvernoy, 1842)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Meriones. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 672 records assigned to Muridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=632985 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.

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:6QZ9T. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.