European hamster
{{Short description|Species of hamster native to Eurasia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = European hamster (Cricetus cricetus) Meidling 2.jpg
| image_caption = In Meidling cemetery, Vienna
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Cricetus
| parent_authority = Leske, 1779
| species = cricetus
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| range_map = CricetusCricetusIUCN.svg
| range_map_caption = European hamster range (green)
| synonyms = {{collapsible list
|Cricetus albus {{small|Fitzinger, 1867}}
|Cricetus babylonicus {{small|Nehring, 1903}}
|Cricetus canescens {{small|Nehring, 1899}}
|Cricetus frumentarius {{small|Pallas, 1811}}
|Cricetus fulvus {{small|Bechstein, 1801}}
|Cricetus fuscidorsis {{small|Argyropulo, 1932}}
|Cricetus germanicus {{small|Kerr, 1792}}
|Cricetus jeudii {{small|Gray, 1873}}
|Cricetus latycranius {{small|Ognev, 1923}}
|''Cricetus nehringi' {{small|Matschie, 1901}}
|Cricetus niger {{small|Fitzinger, 1867}}
|Cricetus nigricans {{small|Lacépède, 1799}}
|Cricetus polychroma {{small|Krulikovski, 1916}}
|Cricetus rufescens {{small|Nehring, 1899}}
|Cricetus stavropolicus {{small|Satunin, 1907}}
|Cricetus tauricus {{small|Ognev, 1924}}
|Cricetus tomensis {{small|Ognev, 1924}}
|Cricetus varius {{small|Fitzinger, 1867}}
|Cricetus vulgaris {{small|Geoffroy, 1803}}
|Mus cricetus {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}}}}
}}
The European hamster (Cricetus cricetus), also known as the Eurasian hamster,{{cite web|title=Eurasian hamster|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Eurasian+hamster|publisher=The Free Dictionary|access-date=26 April 2013}} black-bellied hamster{{cite web|title=Cricetus Cricetus – Common or Black-Bellied Hamster|url=http://www.agroatlas.ru/en/content/pests/Cricetus_cricetus/|work=AgroAtlas|access-date=26 April 2013}} or common hamster,{{cite web|title=Common Hamster: Cricetus Cricetus|url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/management/docs/Cricetus%20cricetus%20factsheet%20-%20SWIFI.pdf|work=Habitats Directive|publisher=European Commission|access-date=26 April 2013}}{{cite web|title=hamster|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/hamster?q=cricetus+cricetus|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506150119/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/hamster?q=cricetus+cricetus|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 May 2014|work=Oxford Dictionaries|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=26 April 2013}} is the only species of hamster in the genus Cricetus.{{MSW3 Muroidea | id = 13000362 | page = 1043}} It is native to grassland and similar habitats in a large part of Eurasia, extending from Belgium to the Altai Mountains and Yenisey River in Russia.{{cite web|title=Cricetus cricetus|url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Cricetus_cricetus/|work=Animal Diversity Web|publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=26 April 2013}} Historically, it was considered a farmland pest and had been trapped for its fur. Its population has declined drastically in recent years and is now considered critically endangered.{{cite web |last1=Dell'Amore |first1=Christine |title=World's rarest wild hamster is now critically endangered |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/animals/2020/07/worlds-rarest-wild-hamster-is-now-critically-endangered |website=National Geographic |language=en-gb |date=18 July 2020}} The main threats to the species are thought to be intensive agriculture, habitat destruction, and persecution by farmers.
Description
File:Cricetus cricetus 02 MWNH 244.jpg
File:Die vergleichende Osteologie (1821) Cricetus cricetus.jpg
The European hamster has brown dorsal fur with white patches. The chest and belly are black. The tail is short and furred. It is much larger than the Syrian (Mesocricetus auratus) or dwarf hamsters (Phodopus sp.), which are commonly kept as pets, and is the largest known species of hamster. It weighs {{convert|220|–|460|g|oz|abbr=on}} and can grow to {{convert|20|–|35|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long with a tail of {{convert|4|–|6|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Its dental formula is {{DentalFormula|upper=1.0.0.3|lower=1.0.0.3}}. In captivity, the European hamster has an unusually long lifespan for a rodent, living up to eight years.
Behaviour
The common hamster is a nocturnal or crepuscular species. It lives in a complex burrow system. It eats seeds, legumes, root vegetables, grasses and insects. It transports its food in its elastic cheek pouches to the food storage chambers. The storage chambers may be quite large and on average contain {{cvt|2-3|kg|lb}} of food, but exceptionally can be up to {{cvt|65|kg|lb|}}.{{cite book | last = MacDonald | first = David|author2=Priscilla Barret |title = Mammals of Britain & Europe |volume= 1| year = 1993| publisher = HarperCollins |location = London | isbn =0-00-219779-0| pages = 236–237 }}{{citation | author=Weinhold, U. | date=8 July 2008 | title=Draft European Action Plan For the conservation of the Common hamster (Cricetus cricetus, L. 1758) | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275340185 | publisher=Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, Standing Committee, 28th meeting Strasbourg, 24–27 November 2008 }} It hibernates between October and March. During this time, it wakes every five to seven days to feed from the storage chambers. They are usually solitary animals.
Breeding
Distribution and habitat
It is typically found in low-lying farmland with soft loam or loess soils, although it may also inhabit meadows, gardens or hedges. It is found from Belgium and Alsace in the west, to Russia in the east, and Bulgaria in the south. A significant population is found in Vienna Central Cemetery in Austria.
Conservation
The Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Union's highest court, ruled in 2011 that France had failed to protect the European hamster.{{Cite web|url=http://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?&num=383%2F09|title=C-383/09 - Commission v France|date=9 June 2011|website=InfoCuria}} The government would be subject to fines of up to $24.6 million if France did not adjust its agricultural and urbanisation policies sufficiently to protect it.{{cite news |date=2011 |title=France Is Scolded Over Care of Great Hamster of Alsace |first=S. |last=Erlanger |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/world/europe/10hamsters.html |access-date=10 June 2011}}{{update inline|date=June 2014}} By 2014, France had started a captive-breeding programme, which aimed to release 500 European hamsters each year into fields that farmers were paid not to harvest.{{Cite web|last=Rauber|first=P. |date=2014|title=Wild Hamsters of Alsace |url=https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2014-4-july-august/critter/wild-hamsters-alsace|access-date=2020-07-02|website=Sierra Club}}
In 2020, the European hamster was classified as critically endangered across its global range on the IUCN Red List. The reasons for its drastic decline are not fully understood. It has been linked especially to habitat loss due to intensive agricultural practices and the building of roads that fragment populations, and to climate change, the historical fur trapping and to pollution; even light pollution appears to significantly reduce local populations, unless counterbalanced by other factors. Agriculture, development, and persecution are thought to be the biggest threats to the species.
A significant benefit to existing conservation programs is that the European hamster breeds readily in captivity; captive breeding programs for the species exist in Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and elsewhere.{{Cite web|date=2020-07-16|title=World’s rarest wild hamster is now critically endangered|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/common-hamster-named-critically-endangered-europe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226172905/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/common-hamster-named-critically-endangered-europe|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 February 2021|access-date=2022-12-04|website=Animals|language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Cricetus cricetus}}
- {{Wikispecies-inline|Cricetus cricetus}}
{{Hamster}}
{{Myomorpha|E.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q208077}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Critically endangered biota of Europe