Hamster

Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.[1][2] They have become established as popular small house pets.[3] The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), which is the type most commonly kept as pets. Other hamster species commonly kept as pets are the three species of dwarf hamster, Campbell's dwarf hamster (Phodopus campbelli), the winter white dwarf hamster (Phodopus sungorus) and the Roborovski hamster (Phodopus roborovskii).

Hamsters are more crepuscular than nocturnal and, in the wild, remain underground during the day to avoid being caught by predators. They feed primarily on seeds, fruits, and vegetation, and will occasionally eat burrowing insects.[4] Physically, they are stout-bodied with distinguishing features that include elongated cheek pouches extending to their shoulders, which they use to carry food back to their burrows, as well as a short tail and fur-covered feet.

Taxonomists generally disagree about the most appropriate placement of the subfamily Cricetinae within the superfamily Muroidea. Some place it in a family Cricetidae that also includes voles, lemmings, and New World rats and mice; others group all these into a large family called Muridae. Their evolutionary history is recorded by 15 extinct fossil genera and extends back 11.2 million to 16.4 million years to the Middle Miocene Epoch in Europe and North Africa; in Asia it extends 6 million to 11 million years. Four of the seven living genera include extinct species. One extinct hamster of Cricetus, for example, lived in North Africa during the Middle Miocene, but the only extant member of that genus is the European or common hamster of Eurasia.

• Subfamily Cricetinae

  • Genus Allocricetulus

    • Species A. curtatus—Mongolian hamster

    • Species A. eversmanni—Eversmann's or Kazakh hamster

  • Genus Cansumys

    • Species C. canus—Gansu hamster

• Genus Cricetulus

  • Species C. alticola—Tibetan dwarf or Ladak hamster

  • Species C. barabensis, including "C. pseudogriseus" and "C. obscurus"—Chinese striped hamster, also called Chinese hamster; striped dwarf hamster.

  • Species C. griseus—Chinese (dwarf) hamster, also called rat hamster

  • Species C. kamensis—Kam dwarf hamster or Tibetan hamster

  • Species C. longicaudatus—long-tailed dwarf hamster

  • Species C. migratorius—grey dwarf hamster, Armenian hamster, migratory grey hamster; grey hamster; migratory hamster

  • Species C. sokolovi—Sokolov's dwarf hamster

  • Genus Cricetus

    • Species C. cricetus—European hamster, also called common hamster or black-bellied field hamster

  • Genus Mesocricetus—golden hamsters

    • Species M. auratus—golden or Syrian hamster

    • Species M. brandti—Turkish hamster, also called Brandt's hamster; Azerbaijani hamster

    • Species M. newtoni—Romanian hamster

    • Species M. raddei—Ciscaucasian hamster

  • Genus Phodopus—dwarf hamsters

    • Species P. campbelli—Campbell's dwarf hamster

    • Species P. roborovskii—Roborovski hamster

    • Species P. sungorus—Djungarian hamster or winter-white Russian dwarf hamster

  • Genus Tscherskia

    • Species T. triton—greater long-tailed hamster, also called Korean hamster

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