Atlas Gundi Ctenodactylus gundi

This rodent is found in northern Africa on the south side of the Atlas Mountains in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. It lives in rocky, arid places, making its home in crevices and under boulders. It forages for leaves, stems, flowers and seeds over large distances because of the scarcity of suitable plants. It does not drink, obtaining sufficient water from its diet.

Speke’s gundi (Pectinator spekei)

Speke’s gundi lives on rocky cliffs, sheltering in rock fissures, in desert or semi-desert areas, and it is sometimes found in association with hyraxes. This species appears to be patchily distributed Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea. The distribution in Somalia is unclear, but the type locality is in Somaliland It is listed as Least Concern.

Classification Animalia - Chordata - Mammalia - Eutheria - Boreoeutheria - Euarchontoglires - Glires - Rodentia - Hystricomorpha - Ctenodactyloidea - Ctenodactylidae - Ctenodactylus - Pectinator - P. spekei

Gundi (Ctenodactylus gundi), family Ctenodactylidae, found in northern Africa

Gundi - Ctenodactylus gundi

Also commonly known as North African Gundi, these cute rodents found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, are scientifically named Ctenodactylus gundi (Rodentia - Ctenodactylidae).

Gundis range in size from 16-20cm for its head body length. They have a tiny tail (a mere whisp of hairs that is about 10 to 20mm long), very short legs, flat ears, big eyes, and long whiskers. It has been said that when seen crouched on a rock in the sun with the wind blowing through their fur, they look like powder puffs. They have compact bodies, resembling guinea pigs in external appearance.

Despite how cute they seem, must be said that the protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, which has a worldwide distribution and is one of the most frequent parasitic infections, was first described in the Gundi; and also it is a reservoir hosts of Leishmania species involved in cutaneous leishmaniasis in Tunisia.

References: [1] - [2] - [3]