沙鼠原产于非洲、亚洲和中东的干燥、半干燥地区,属小型啮齿类动物。虽曾发现许多沙鼠亚种,但仅蒙古沙鼠(Merionesunguiculatus)被广泛应用于生物医学研究。沙鼠的另一英文名称为jirds。蒙古沙鼠的使用数量虽较大、小鼠、豚鼠和仓鼠少得多,但其某些独特的解剖学、生理学和行为学特征对于某些特殊研究具有重要价值。此外,蒙古沙鼠温顺的性情使其便于捉拿,增加了其作为实验动物的吸引力。本文中沙鼠一词,均指蒙古沙鼠,其中某些资料亦适用于其它沙鼠。目前用于研究的沙鼠均来自同一沙鼠 Gerbil native to Africa, Asia and the Middle East, dry, semi-dry areas, is a small rodents. Although many gerbil subspecies have been identified, only Mongolian gerbils (Merionesunguiculatus) are widely used in biomedical research. Another English name for gerbils is jirds. Although the use of Mongolian gerbils is greater than that of mice, guinea pigs and hamsters, some of their unique anatomical, physiological and behavioral characteristics are of great value to some special studies. In addition, the gentle nature of Mongolian gerbils makes it easy to catch and increase its attractiveness as a laboratory animal. In this paper, the term gerbil, both Mongolian gerbils, some of which also apply to other gerbils. Gerbils currently used for research are from the same gerbil