Difference between revisions of "AY Honors/Small Mammal Pets/Answer Key"

Revision as of 21:46, 31 March 2007

The Syrian Hamster or Golden Hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, is the best known member of the rodent subfamily Cricetinae, the hamsters. In the wild they are now considered endangered ^&, but are popular as housepets and scientific research animals. Adults grow from 5 to 7 inches (12.5 to 17.5 cm ) in length, and will usually have a lifespan of 2 to 3 years.

Biology

Like most members of the subfamily, the Syrian Hamster has expandable cheek pouches, which extend from its cheeks to its shoulders. In the wild, hamsters are larder hoarders; they use their cheek pouches to transport food to their burrows. Their name in the local Arabic dialect where they were found translates to "father of saddlebags" due to the remarkable amount of storage space in their cheek pouches. If food is plentiful, they will store it in large amounts--it has been reported that 25 kg of grain was found in the burrow of a single hamster.

Syrian hamster filling its cheek pouches with dandelion leaves.

Sexually mature female hamsters come into season (oestrus) every four days. Putting a male and female hamster together when the female is not in heat may result in the female attacking the male. Syrian Hamsters have the shortest gestation period in any known mammal at only 16 to 18 days. They can produce large litters of 20 or more young, although the average litter size is 8. If a mother hamster is inexperienced or feels threatened, she may abandon or even cannibalise her pups. It is inadvisable for inexperienced owners to breed them.

Most hamsters in American and British pet stores are Syrian Hamsters. Originally, Syrian Hamsters came in just one colour — the mixture of brown, black, and gold which gave them their "Golden" name — but they have since developed a myriad of colour mutations such as cream, white, blonde, banded, tortoiseshell, calico, and sable. Therefore in pet stores today, Golden Hamster is only used to label the original coloration (also known as agouti). Other-coloured short-hairs are banded under the label Fancy Hamster. Teddy Bear is a term used to describe the long-haired variety of the Syrian Hamster, named so for their remarkable resemblance to toy teddy bears. They are also sometimes known as "angora hamsters". The fur on a long-haired hamster is thick and fluffy, like a cotton wool, rather than the velvety feel of short-haired fur. For this reason, people who are not allergic to short-haired hamsters can be allergic to long-hairs. Male teddy bear hamsters usually have much longer fur than the female variety, culminating in a "skirt" of longer fur around their backsides. Black Bears are a recent off-shoot of teddy bear hamsters (mutation discovered in 1985), with their major difference being their black-coloured fur. It can be argued that black bears are just black teddy bears rather than their own breed; on the other hand, black bears were originally selectively bred for their larger size and more docile nature as well as their colour. However, in current stock, this may or may not still be the case.

Syrian Hamsters are wildly popular as housepets due to their docile, inquisitive natures and small size. They are popular as "first pets" for young children, as well as being classroom animals, because of their hardiness and relative ease of care. Some pet owners find them more attractive in relation to rats and other rodents due to their lack of visible tails. Syrian Hamsters are notoriously territorial, however. Even tame Syrian Hamsters will frequently attack and, indeed, kill, other adult hamsters. When kept as pets, Syrians must be housed in single sex groups after the age of six weeks, and housed individually by the time they are ten weeks old.

Syrian Hamsters have also been used in scientific research — in the study of many diseases, as well as in the study of behaviour. They have a number of fixed action patterns that are readily observed, including scent-marking. They are particularly used in airway and respiratory physiology research.

Discovery

dark-eared white hamster

In 1839 British zoologist George Robert Waterhouse reportedly found an elderly female hamster in Syria, naming it Cricetus auratus, the Golden Hamster. The hamster's fur was on display at the British Museum (Natural History). The Syrian Hamster was then ignored by European science for the next century.

In 1930, Israel Aharoni, a zoologist and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, captured a mother hamster and her litter of babies in the Syrian desert. By the time he got back to his lab, most had died or escaped. The remaining three hamsters were given to his university, where they were successfully bred. Because they were a bit bigger than the ones Waterhouse found, they were named Mesocricetus auratus. Mesocricetus auratus is the currently accepted scientific name of the Syrian Hamster.

Descendants of these hamsters were shipped to scientific labs around the world for use as research animals. They arrived in the United Kingdom in 1931, and reached the United States in 1938. Soon after their initial discovery, they were found to make great pets. Just about all captive Syrian Hamsters today are descended from the original litter found in Syria, except for a few that were brought into the United States by travellers who found them in the desert. A separate stock of hamsters was imported into the US in 1971, but it is not known if any of today's North American pets are descended from them.

Surviving in the wild

In the beginning of the 20th century, the Syrian golden hamster was considered to be virtually extinct in the wild by unknown reason until Professor Aharoni collected one female and her 12 broods in Aleppo.^& After that some later sightings and captures were reported. Since the 1980s this species was not seen in the wild, until two expeditions were carried out during September 1997 and March 1999 to confirm the current existence of the wild golden hamster in northern Syria. The researchers mapped 30 burrows. None of the inhabited burrows contained more than one adult. They caught six females and seven males. One female was pregnant and gave birth to six pups. All these 19 caught wild golden hamsters, together with three wild individuals from the University of Aleppo, were shipped to Germany to form a new breeding stock.^&

Gallery

100 983.jpg

A Golden Hamster
Golden Hamster

References

↑ Template:IUCN2006 Listed as Endangered (EN B1+2c v2.3)
↑ Hochman B, Ferreira LM, Vilas Bôas FC, Mariano M. Experimental model in hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) to study heterologous graft of scars and cutaneous diseases in plastic surgery. Acta Cir Bras [serial online] 2004 Vol 19 Special Edition. Online pdf
↑ Gattermann et al. 2001. Notes on the current distribution and the ecology of wild golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Journal of Zoology, 254: 359-365 (Cambridge University Press). Online abstract

External links

Genome information
Petwebsite Entry on Syrians
The River Road Hamstery- Very good information on hamster breeding, especially for coat types
The Hamster Society
Rabbits N' Rodents
RaztheHamster - Syrian Hamster Gallery

bg:Златист хамстер da:Guldhamstere de:Goldhamster fr:Hamster doré it:Mesocricetus auratus he:אוגר זהוב nl:Goudhamster ja:ゴールデンハムスター nn:Syrisk hamster pl:Chomik syryjski fi:Kultahamsteri sv:Guldhamster zh:敘利亞倉鼠

[1] Template:IUCN2006 Listed as Endangered (EN B1+2c v2.3)

[Hochman-2] Hochman B, Ferreira LM, Vilas Bôas FC, Mariano M. Experimental model in hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) to study heterologous graft of scars and cutaneous diseases in plastic surgery. Acta Cir Bras [serial online] 2004 Vol 19 Special Edition. Online pdf

[Gattermann-3] Gattermann et al. 2001. Notes on the current distribution and the ecology of wild golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Journal of Zoology, 254: 359-365 (Cambridge University Press). Online abstract

&

&

&

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Taxobox
-| color = pink
+| color = golden (brown)
-| name = Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamster
+| name = Syrian or Golden Hamster
-| image = Phodopus sungorus 2 - Colour corrected.jpg
+| status = EN
+| status_system = iucn2.3
+| image = Golden_hamster_front_1.jpg
 | image_width = 250px
 | regnum = [[Animal]]ia
 | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
+| subphylum = [[Vertebrate|Vertebrata]]
 | classis = [[Mammal]]ia
 | ordo = [[Rodent]]ia
@@ Line 12: / Line 15: @@
 | familia = [[Cricetidae]]
 | subfamilia = [[Cricetinae]]
-| genus = ''[[Phodopus]]''
+| genus = ''[[Mesocricetus]]''
-| species = '''''P. sungorus'''''
+| species = '''''M. auratus'''''
-| binomial = ''Phodopus sungorus''
+| binomial = ''Mesocricetus auratus''
-| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
+| binomial_authority = [[George Robert Waterhouse|Waterhouse]], 1839
-| subdivision =
-''Phodopus sungorus sungorus''
-(see text)
 }}
-'''Winter White Russian hamsters''' are a species of [[Hamster]] in the genus ''[[Phodopus]]''.  They are typically half the size of the better-known [[Golden Hamster|Syrian hamster]], and therefore called dwarf hamsters along with all ''Phodopus'' species. Features include a typically thick dark gray dorsal stripe and furry feet. The tail is so short that it hardly shows when the hamster is sitting. As winter approaches and the days get shorter, Winter Whites' dark fur greys until it is almost completely white (hence the name). In the wild, this adaptation helps them evade predators in the snow covered Steppes of winter. They live mainly in [[Siberia]] and are also found in [[Dzungaria]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Mongolia]] and [[Manchuria]].
-Up until recently, it was debated whether the Winter White hamster was a [[sub-species]] of the [[Campbell's dwarf hamster|Campbell's]] (''Phodopus campbelli'') or not; however, it is now known that the Winter whites are of their own species, ''Phodopus sungorus''.
+The '''Syrian Hamster''' or '''Golden Hamster''', ''Mesocricetus auratus'', is the best known member of the [[rodent]] [[subfamily]] [[Cricetinae]], the [[hamster]]s.  In the wild they are now considered endangered <ref>{{IUCN2006|assessors=Baillie|year=1996|id=13219|title=Mesocricetus auratus|downloaded=09 May 2006}} Listed as Endangered (EN B1+2c v2.3)</ref>, but are popular as housepets and scientific research animals.  Adults grow from 5 to 7 inches (12.5 to 17.5 cm ) in length, and will usually have a lifespan of 2 to 3 years.
-==Winter White Russian hamsters as pets==
+==Biology==
-They are often found on the [[pet]] market, in [[Europe]] and [[Asia]] more so than in the [[United States|U.S.]]. They are rarely found in pet stores in [[Canada]]. Care is similar to that of the [[Campbell's dwarf hamster|Campbell's dwarf hamster]]. Winter White hamsters generally make excellent pets.  However, a larger [[Golden Hamster|Syrian Hamster]] would be more suitable for younger children as they can be handled more clumsily. Winter White hamsters should not be fed food containing sources of [[monosaccharide]]s because of the risk of developing [[diabetes mellitus]]{{Fact|date=February 2007}}.
+Like most members of the subfamily, the Syrian Hamster has expandable cheek pouches, which extend from its cheeks to its shoulders.  In the wild, hamsters are [[larder hoarding|larder hoarders]]; they use their cheek pouches to transport food to their burrows.  Their name in the local [[Arabic language|Arabic]] dialect where they were found translates to "father of saddlebags" due to the remarkable amount of storage space in their cheek pouches.  If food is plentiful, they will store it in large amounts--it has been reported that 25 kg of grain was found in the burrow of a single hamster.
+[[Image:Hamst08082002.JPG|thumb|left|Syrian hamster filling its cheek pouches with dandelion leaves.]]
+Sexually mature female hamsters come into season ([[oestrus]]) every four days.  Putting a male and female hamster together when the female is not in heat may result in the female attacking the male.  Syrian Hamsters have the shortest gestation period in any known mammal at only 16 to 18 days.  They can produce large litters of 20 or more young, although the average litter size is 8.  If a mother hamster is inexperienced or feels threatened, she may abandon or even cannibalise her pups. It is inadvisable for inexperienced owners to breed them.
-Winter Whites, in common with the [[Campbell's dwarf hamster|Campbell's Dwarf Hamster]] are sociable and will live together peacefully with others of their own species, but are best introduced at a young age and will require a sufficiently large cage to ensure they live together happily.
+Most hamsters in American and British pet stores are Syrian Hamsters.  Originally, Syrian Hamsters came in just one colour — the mixture of brown, black, and gold which gave them their "Golden" name — but they have since developed a myriad of colour mutations such as cream, white, blonde, banded, tortoiseshell, calico, and sable.  Therefore in pet stores today, ''Golden Hamster'' is only used to label the original coloration (also known as agouti).  Other-coloured short-hairs are banded under the label ''Fancy Hamster''.  ''Teddy Bear'' is a term used to describe the long-haired variety of the Syrian Hamster, named so for their remarkable resemblance to toy teddy bears.  They are also sometimes known as "angora hamsters". The fur on a long-haired hamster is thick and fluffy, like a cotton wool, rather than the velvety feel of short-haired fur. For this reason, people who are not allergic to short-haired hamsters can be allergic to long-hairs.  Male teddy bear hamsters usually have much longer fur than the female variety, culminating in a "skirt" of longer fur around their backsides.  ''Black Bears'' are a recent off-shoot of teddy bear hamsters (mutation discovered in 1985), with their major difference being their black-coloured fur. It can be argued that black bears are just black teddy bears rather than their own breed; on the other hand, black bears were originally selectively bred for their larger size and more docile nature as well as their colour.  However, in current stock, this may or may not still be the case.
-In general, dwarf hamsters typically have more of a family structure than the [[Golden Hamster|Syrian Hamster]].  Conventional beliefs that dwarf hamsters will happily live in mated pairs, with both male and female caring for the young.  However, this may be a result of a frequent confusion of the Winter Whites and the Campbell's hamsters.  Current research work suggest biparental care in Campbell's hamsters (Phodopus campbelli) but not in Winter Whites (Phodopus sungorus) (see research work by Dr. Katherine Wynne-Edwards at Queen's University, Ontario, Canada). Some report that same-sex pairs and larger groups don't always get along well and frequent fighting may occur and be a great distress for them, or even lead to deadly incidents.
+Syrian Hamsters are wildly popular as housepets due to their docile, inquisitive natures and small size.  They are popular as "first pets" for young children, as well as being classroom animals, because of their hardiness and relative ease of care.  Some pet owners find them more attractive in relation to rats and other rodents due to their lack of visible tails.  Syrian Hamsters are notoriously territorial, however.  Even tame Syrian Hamsters will frequently attack and, indeed, kill, other adult hamsters.  When kept as pets, Syrians must be housed in single sex groups after the age of six weeks, and housed individually by the time they are ten weeks old.
-There are several phases (colorations) of Winter White hamsters: their normal (dark brownish-grey colouring) or sapphire (blue-grey colouring).  A white pattern called pearl (white with coloured hairs) sometimes exists in either phase, producing the normal pearl or sapphire pearl forms.  However, these colours may be difficult to find, and the range of colours is much narrower than in the case of the [[Campbell's dwarf hamster|Campbell's]].
+Syrian Hamsters have also been used in scientific research — in the study of many diseases, as well as in the study of behaviour.  They have a number of [[fixed action pattern]]s that are readily observed, including scent-marking.  They are particularly used in airway and respiratory physiology research.
-Winter White hamsters, also called Siberian hamsters, come from the steppes of Siberia and Kazakhstan and possess an adaptation not seen in [[Campbell's dwarf hamster|Campbells]]: they can moult into a white winter coat.  This camouflages them against the snow and also gives them their name.  This moulting is brought on by the amount of day light; if the hamster is kept in an environment with short duration of day light (< 12 hours of light/day) for more than 6 weeks, they will change into their winter coat (white guard hair with thick inner hair) with only a single black stripe going through the center of the back.  Such seasonal moulting is mediated through the nocturnal secretion of melatonin, the hormone secreted by the pineal gland.  Short day lengths also triggers the regression of the gonads in both male and females, and thus Winter Whites become infertile.  Because Winter White hamsters show such photoperiodic and seasonal changes in physiology and various behaviors, it is also used as a research model system for studying seasonality and photoperiodism.
+== Discovery ==
-The average lifespan of the Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamster is 1½ to 2 years, although they can live longer.
+[[Image:hamster.jpg|thumb|right|dark-eared white hamster]]
+In [[1839]] [[Britain|British]] [[zoologist]] [[George Robert Waterhouse]] reportedly found an elderly female hamster in Syria, naming it ''Cricetus auratus,'' the Golden Hamster.  The hamster's fur was on display at the [[British Museum (Natural History)]].  The Syrian Hamster was then ignored by European science for the next century.
-<gallery>
+In 1930, [[Israel Aharoni]], a zoologist and professor at the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]], captured a mother hamster and her litter of babies in the [[Syria|Syrian]] desert.  By the time he got back to his lab, most had died or escaped.  The remaining three hamsters were given to his university, where they were successfully bred.  Because they were a bit bigger than the ones Waterhouse found, they were named ''Mesocricetus auratus''.  ''Mesocricetus auratus'' is the currently accepted scientific name of the Syrian Hamster.
-Image:Pearl Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamster - Front.jpg|Pearl Winter White - Front
-Image:Pearl Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamster - Side.jpg|Pearl Winter White - Side
+Descendants of these hamsters were shipped to scientific labs around the world for use as research animals.  They arrived in the [[United Kingdom]] in 1931, and reached the United States in 1938.  Soon after their initial discovery, they were found to make great pets.  Just about all captive Syrian Hamsters today are descended from the original litter found in Syria, except for a few that were brought into the United States by travellers who found them in the desert.  A separate stock of hamsters was imported into the US in 1971, but it is not known if any of today's North American pets are descended from them.
-Image:Pearl Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamster - Rear.jpg|Pearl Winter White - Rear
-Image:Pearl Winter White Russian Dwarf Hamster - Face.jpg|Pearl Winter White - Face
-</gallery>
-[[Image:Phodopus_sungorus.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamster, normal color]]
+==Surviving in the wild==
+In the beginning of the 20th century, the Syrian golden hamster was considered to be virtually extinct in the wild by unknown reason until Professor Aharoni collected one female and her 12 broods in [[Aleppo]].<ref name="Hochman">Hochman B, Ferreira LM, Vilas Bôas FC, Mariano M. Experimental model in hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) to study heterologous graft of scars and cutaneous diseases in plastic surgery. Acta Cir Bras [serial online] 2004 Vol 19 Special Edition. [http://www.scielo.br/pdf/acb/v19s1/v19s1a12.pdf Online pdf]</ref> After that some later sightings and captures were reported. Since the 1980s this species was not seen in the wild, until two expeditions were carried out during September [[1997]] and March [[1999]] to confirm the current existence of the wild golden hamster in northern [[Syria]]. The researchers mapped 30 burrows. None of the inhabited burrows contained more than one adult. They caught six females and seven males. One female was pregnant and gave birth to six pups. All these 19 caught wild golden hamsters, together with three wild individuals from the University of Aleppo, were shipped to [[Germany]] to form a new breeding stock.<ref name="Gattermann">Gattermann et al. 2001. Notes on the current distribution and the ecology of wild golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Journal of Zoology, 254: 359-365 (Cambridge University Press). [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=78463 Online abstract]</ref>
-== Campbells/Winter White Hybrids ==
+==Gallery==
+<gallery>
+Image:100_983.jpg|A Golden Hamster
+Image:Golden_hamster_side_1.jpg|Golden Hamster
-Of the 5 species kept as pets only the [[Campbell's dwarf hamster|Campbells]] and Winter Whites are able to interbreed and produce live offspring (hybrids). Hybrids are most often unknowingly produced through incorrect identification of the two similar species of hamsters and unfortunately the number of hybrids is increasing particularly within pet shops in many countries today where they are often mislabelled as being one or other of the pure species.
+</gallery>
-Although hybrids make suitable pets the breeding of hybrids should be avoided as it can cause health and birthing problems and also the widespread breeding and distribution of hybrids could threaten the existence of both pure species in captivity. Therefore if intending to breed Russian hamsters it is important to ensure that both hamsters being bred are a pure form of, and of the same, species to avoid producing hybrids.
+==See also==
+*[[Hamster]]
-== External links ==
+==References==
+<references/>
-*[http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/dwarf_winter_white_russian_hamsters.htm Pet Web Site (formerly The Complete Hamster Site) section on Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamsters]
+==External links==
-*[http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/hybrid_hamsters.htm Pet Web Site (formerly The Complete Hamster Site) section on Hybrid Hamsters]
+*[http://www.syrianhamster.com Syrian Hamster]
 *[http://www.hamster-heaven.com Hamster Heaven]
-*[http://www.xander.it/video.htm Xander.it] - Winter White video gallery
+*[http://www.hamsterific.com Hamsterific.com]
-*[http://www.furrycritters.co.uk FurryCritters]
+*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=10036&lvl=3&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock Genome information]
+*[http://www.petwebsite.com/hamsters/syrian_hamsters.htm Petwebsite Entry on Syrians]
+*[http://hometown.aol.com/TheRiverRd/ The River Road Hamstery]- Very good information on hamster breeding, especially for coat types
+*[http://www.hamsoc.org.uk/varieties.php The Hamster Society]
+*[http://www.rabbitsnrodents.com/hamsters.htm/ Rabbits N' Rodents]
+*[http://www.razthehamster.com/gallery RaztheHamster] - Syrian Hamster Gallery
 [[Category:Hamsters]]
+[[Category:Mammals of Asia]]
-[[cs:Křečík džungarský]]
+[[bg:Златист хамстер]]
-[[de:Dsungarischer Zwerghamster]]
+[[da:Guldhamstere]]
-[[es:Phodopus sungorus]]
+[[de:Goldhamster]]
-[[fr:Hamster russe]]
+[[fr:Hamster doré]]
-[[hr:Bijeli ruski hrčak]]
+[[it:Mesocricetus auratus]]
-[[it:Phodopus sungorus]]
+[[he:אוגר זהוב]]
-[[he:אוגר סיבירי]]
+[[nl:Goudhamster]]
-[[nl:Russische dwerghamster]]
+[[ja:ゴールデンハムスター]]
-[[ja:ジャンガリアンハムスター]]
+[[nn:Syrisk hamster]]
-[[pl:Chomik dżungarski]]
+[[pl:Chomik syryjski]]
-[[ru:Хомячок джунгарский]]
+[[fi:Kultahamsteri]]
-[[sl:Sibirski hrček]]
+[[sv:Guldhamster]]
-[[fi:Venäjänkääpiöhamsteri]]
+[[zh:敘利亞倉鼠]]
-[[zh:短尾侏儒倉鼠]]