Figures
Photo of a great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) exiting a burrow system in southeastern Kazakhstan
Great gerbils are the primary host of plague and cutaneous leismaniasis in most natural foci in Central Asia. The colonies built by these rodents are extensive, sometimes 50 meters in diameter, with the total length of the burrow systems occasionally reaching up to one kilometer. Great gerbil burrows systems play an important role in desert ecosystems, with several animal species utilizing them. Poché et al. (2018)
Image Credit: Richard M. Poché
Citation: (2018) PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Issue Image | Vol. 12(7) July 2018. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 12(7): ev12.i07. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pntd.v12.i07
Published: July 31, 2018
Copyright: © 2018 Poché. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Great gerbils are the primary host of plague and cutaneous leismaniasis in most natural foci in Central Asia. The colonies built by these rodents are extensive, sometimes 50 meters in diameter, with the total length of the burrow systems occasionally reaching up to one kilometer. Great gerbil burrows systems play an important role in desert ecosystems, with several animal species utilizing them. Poché et al. (2018)
Image Credit: Richard M. Poché