| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Ctenodactylidae |
| Size: | Length: 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) |
| Weight: | 6 to 7 ounces (170 to 198 g) |
| Diet: | Leaves, flowers, seeds and grass |
| Distribution: | Northern Africa |
| Young: | 2 to 3, once per year |
| Animal Predators: | Cats, dogs, birds, jackals and snakes |
| IUCN Status: | No special status |
| Terms: | No special terms |
| Lifespan: | 2 to 4 years |
· When lying on a rock sunbathing, gundis resemble powder puffs.
· Gundis have rootless cheek teeth that keep growing throughout their lives.
·
They are
not good gnawers, lacking the hard outer tooth enamel that most other rodents
have.
Gundis have a compact body that resembles that of guinea pigs. They also have short legs, big eyes and are usually tan in colour. They have four toes on each foot and they groom themselves with the bristles growing on their inner hind toes. The soles of their feet have no fur, but have thick padding that enables them to withstand the heat.
A typical day is spent sunbathing in the early morning until the temperature gets too hot, then they feed, following by more sunbathing while they digest their morning meal. In the early part of the afternoon they rest in the shade and when it cools down later in the afternoon, gundis come out to feed again. They do not need to drink, getting enough water from the moisture in the plants they eat.
Litters usually consist of two young (sometimes three) born fully furred with their eyes open, after a gestation period of 40 days. Because gundis rarely drink, mothers have a limited quantity of milk and begin to feed chewed leaves to their offspring as early as possible. Within four to six weeks the young are fully weaned and they reach adult size by the age of four months, but do not reproduce until they are at least eight to 12 months old.
There are five species of gundi living in various areas of northern Africa. The smallest is the desert gundi of western Algeria. Gundis live in family colonies usually consisting of a mother, father and various ages of juveniles. They suffer in cold weather and will snuggle together to keep warm when the temperature drops below 50°F (10°C). Gundis communicate with chirps and whistles. When they sense danger, they thump their hind feet to warn the others and then disappear into a rock crevice to escape.
The current gundi population is not considered a conservation concern at this time.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/ctenodactylus/c._gundi$narrative.html
http://www.manntaylor.com/gundi.html
http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/walker/rodentia.ctenodactylidae.ctenodactylus.html
Gundi Wildlife Fact File, IM Pub, US