The research on some biologic pecularities of Meriones tristrami Thomas 1892 (Rodentia: Gerbillinae)

SUMMARYIn this study, nineteen (14 males, 5 females) animals of the species Meriones tristramiThomas,1892 were studied morphologicaly, karyologicaly, ecologicaly and behavioraly. Theanimals were collected from Bismil plain (400 37' E, 370 49' N). Ecological and behavioralaspects of Meriones tristrami based on field and labaratory observations. The data aboutbody and cranial characters, karyologic characters, habitat, burrow habit, repruduction andsome behaviors investigated and compared with the results of previous studies. Skin, skull,choromosome preparats have been deposited at the Dicle Univesity, Sicence & Art Faculty,Biyology Department.The results showed that their total, tail, ear and hind foot lengths are 261 mm, 128mm, 19 mm and 33 mm in range. And the weight is 76 gr. The diploid number ofchoromosomes (2n) are 72, the fundamental numbers (NF) are 86, the autosomal numbers(NFa) are 82. Six pairs are meta and submetacentric , twentynine pairs are acrocentric, Xchoromosome is big and metacentric,Y choromosome is small and submetacentric. They livein the burrows that usually have one enterance, storege chamber, nestroom and billind alley.The burrow length is 125 cm, its? deep is 48 cm, the height of the entrance is 4.7 cm andtunnel?s diameter is 5 cm. The birth occured after the duration of pregnancy was estimated24-27 days. The litters size are between 3 and 10. The youngs had attained sexual maturityapproximately after 75 days. The youngs that grown up in labaratory remain smaler than thewild. They hoard and defense their territorium strongly. They live in pair or family groups inlabaratory. They get water mostly from water-cum food than free water. They consume foodbetween % 40 and % 67 body weight and this consume is depend on the food. Although thewild specimens are aggresive, the youngs that grown up in cages are docile.Key words : Meriones, Karyology, Ecology, Behavior, TurkeyAlaettin KAYA