Non-Volant Small Mammals of Rajasthan

Abstract

This chapter contains data from small mammal surveys carried out in the entire state by Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI), Jodhpur, and later by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. Non-volant small mammals belong to orders Scandentia, Rodentia, Soricomorpha, and Erinaceomorpha whereas volant small mammals fall under order Chiroptera. Tree shrew belonging to order Scandentia is absent from Rajasthan. The other three orders are well represented in the state, and as many as 26 species of non-volant small mammals have been reported. Order Rodentia with 22 species is the largest order of small mammals, while orders Soricomorpha and Erinaceomorpha are represented by two species each. Rodents of Rajasthan have been well studied because of their pest status since inception of CAZRI. All aspects of rodent pests including physiology, ecology, taxonomy, zoogeography, ethology, and toxicology have been thoroughly worked out. Certain other species of rodents like Petaurista philippensis, Vandeleuria oleracea, 06 species of genus Mus, Nesokia indica, and certain desert-dwelling gerbils are poorly studied. Insectivorous orders, Soricomorpha, and Erinaceomorpha, too, have received little attention of ecologists. This chapter includes species composition in various zones, habitat preference, food and feeding ecology, and reproductive biology of lesser known small mammals of Rajasthan.