A gerbil is a small rodent, classified in the same sub-order as rats and mice – Muridae. In daily talk they are often referred as "desert rats", but they really belong to a separate family -- the Gerbillinae - which consists of about 90 species. Their fur is soft and shiny, and varies from a greyish to reddish-brown with a liberal black ticking depending on their habitat, while the belly coat is an off white to a pale cream. The tail is covered with hair and have the same length as the body, with a small tuft at the end. They have a stocky body and small external ears, while the inner and middle ears are very large, to provide excellent hearing of low frequensy sounds. They rareley make any sounds, mainly they communicate by scent.

Their natural inhabit is the savanna, hot desert, steppe and semi-desert in Central Asia, India, Middle East, and Africa. The kind of gerbils we usually keep as pets, are the Mongolian gerbil – in latin "Meriones unguiculatus" - wich can be translated as "Little Clawed Warrior". Gerbils have been known by Europeans since the late half of the 19-th century. Breeding gerbils outside Mongolia began in the 1930:ies, and import of gerbils to the USA started during the mid of 20:th century./P>

In wild life gerbils live in large burrow under ground. These dens can be extended up to 50 cm down under ground. The habitations consist of ingenius system of caves and passages, each and everyone of them have their special function. There are caves for storing food, nesting, nursery, etc. They live in groups of about 20 gerbils, but only one male and one female mate regulary. Gerbils are normally vegetarians, their main food consisst of seed, roots and leaf. Some times they supplement the food with insects or larvas. They are very terrorial, and do not accept any intruders on their territory.

Source: Gerbil FAQ

OOUUCCHHH!!!!
It's HOT!!!!
Gerbils can make huge leaps to avoid touching the hot ground in the desert. They carry seed back to their cool burrow, to eat and store for the future - one gerbil's burrrow contained 20 kilogram (44 lb) of seed!!!