Tailor Made Holidays in Mongolia: In the News

Desert 'Mickey Mouse' spotted in Mongolia: 10-12-2007

A rare mouse with larger than average ears - dubbed the desert's Mickey Mouse - has been filmed for what experts believe to be the first time ever.

The long-eared jerboa, a tiny nocturnal mammal with oversized ears, was caught on camera in Mongolia's Gobi desert during an expedition led by Zoological Society of London (ZSL) scientist Jonathan Baillie.

Up to now the animals have proved very hard to study, given their miniscule size and the harsh environment in which they live - thought to be the desert terrain of China and Mongolia.

"The long-eared jerboa is a bit like the Mickey Mouse of the desert, cute and comic in equal measure," Dr Jonathan Baillie explained.

"It's an extraordinary animal that looks as if it's been designed by committee - kangaroo legs, snowshoe feet, huge ears and a pig's nose.

"It represents millions of years of evolutionary history and while it looks like a small rodent it's very, very distinct. There's no other animal of its type."

The footage was released by ZSL as part of the organisation's Edge programme which focuses on species that are evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered.


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