Tibetan dwarf hamster
species of mammal
The Tibetan dwarf hamster (Urocricetus alticola) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found not only in Tibet and China, but also in India and Nepal in mountainous regions at altitudes of up to about 5,200 m (17,100 ft). It was moved from the genus Cricetulus to Urocricetus in 2018.
Description
The Tibetan dwarf hamster has a head and body length of about 103 mm (4.1 in) and a tail of between 30 and 37 mm (1.2 and 1.5 in). The head and neck are a pale sandy ochre color and the body is a slightly darker and uniform shade of ochre. The underparts and the upper surfaces of the feet are white. The ears are a darker shade of brown, contrasting with the body colour, and have pale rims at their tip and a small tuft of white hairs at their base. The tail is bicoloured, being dark on the upper surface and white below.
Distribution and habitat
The Tibetan dwarf hamster is native to northern parts of southern Asia and parts of southwestern China. Its range includes Jammu and Kashmir and western Nepal at altitudes of up to about 4,000 m (13,100 ft), and in China it is found in southwestern Xinjiang and northwestern parts of the Tibet Autonomous Region, at altitudes of between 3,100 and 5,200 m (10,200 and 17,100 ft).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Tibetan dwarf hamster” as species of mammal. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of mammal. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 5, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q125916089. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2018.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tibetan dwarf hamster” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.