Jumpin’ jerboa
I have a hard time doing #Caturday but my friend Mz Maau suggested I add some kittens to my stream. I hope this jerboa is cute enough.
This one was caught in Afghanistan. Jerboa hop like kangaroos as you could guess. They use their long tail for balance while moving and for stability while standing. They can move as fast as 15 mph or 24 kph. Because they live in the desert and they have large eyes, you can guess that they are nocturnal. They are solitary and build permanent burrows; one for winter and one for summer.
The only interesting science tidbit I found, outside of the Wiki, is that they have a high level of vasopressin in their brains relative to other rodents. Vasopressin is a hormone involved with two things, vasoconstriction (closing of blood vessels) and retention of water. Being a desert animal, the later makes sense.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerboa
Image source: http://www.uncp.edu/biology/new/trace_landreth.html
#ScienceEveryday
June 22, 2013
Adorable! We teach medical students about the kangaroo rat because it has the longest Loop of Henle (nephron) so it can maximally concentrate its urine. The Loop of Henle operates as a “countercurrent multiplier”. For example, this cutie can concentrate urea up to 3,500 mmol/l, whereas humans can only concentrate urea to 400 mmol/l.
June 22, 2013
Rajini Rao do you know if ADH plays a direct role as well with the Loop of Henle?
June 22, 2013
ADH affects water permeability in the collecting duct, that runs parallel with the loop of Henle (so it is subjected to the same concentration gradient). Water channels (aquaporins) move water into the filtrate and their insertion in the membrane is regulated by ADH.
June 22, 2013
Hmm, I don’t have access to the article I linked above that talks about more ADH in their brains. I wonder if they discuss the loop of Henle.
The library proxy at Northwestern University sucks compared to the library proxy at UChicago. I used to have a shortcut called Proxy it. I miss it. It made it easier to access journals at home.
June 22, 2013
I don’t have a shortcut either..I have to log into our library and I’m generally too lazy to do it.
June 23, 2013
That looks like a creature out of the Monster Manual.
June 23, 2013
That is amazing. I had not heard of these before.
June 23, 2013
cute rodent
June 23, 2013
It like a bilby
June 24, 2013
Added to my list of animals that I’d never seen and/or heard of before..
June 24, 2013
My SIL studied bettongs (aka kangaroo rats) on treadmills for her PhD in biology…not sure if they’re related and she’s not on G+ but if you want I can email her to ask her to comment…
June 24, 2013
Kimberly Chapman as far as I know they are related.
June 26, 2013
wow — this rodent is awesome
June 26, 2013
Fact stranger than fiction, Megan Casey?
Micha Fire did you see the skeleton in the Wiki?
June 27, 2013
Chad Haney yes 😉