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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Oct 23, 2004 4:01:18 GMT -8
I did reply to him! I think he did make a mistake in his writing, because he has Down Syndrome himself! That was why I and you all were probably so confused.
This was his reply on my answer:
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Post by blackie on Oct 25, 2004 2:41:08 GMT -8
Well in my country, gerbils are called "ørkenrotte" which is so annoying, because people who don't know about gerbils confuse them with rats. they think gerbils are a kind of sub-rat, or a part of the rat and mouse family. In Sweden they say "gerbil" but pronounce it differently. I really prefer the word gerbil rather than "ørkenrotte" (ørken means desert in norwegian.) desert rat is just a stupid nickname. ![:-[](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/embarrassed.png)
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Post by blackie on Oct 25, 2004 2:43:07 GMT -8
I think Mongolian gerbils sounds really cool. And Meriones Unguiculatus...I actually thought about getting rats before I got gerbils but I'm glad I dismssed the idea. Gerbils are better.
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Post by paws on Oct 25, 2004 6:48:42 GMT -8
But gerbils ARE rats, arent they?
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Post by doomgerbiluk on Oct 25, 2004 7:29:49 GMT -8
no they are RODENTS
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Post by paws on Oct 25, 2004 7:46:22 GMT -8
oops! ;D i'm mixed up because i've heard them being called sand rats! Dumb people!
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Post by Gwirrel on Oct 25, 2004 8:04:14 GMT -8
A rat latin genus is rattus, and depending on the type of rat their second name changes. So it could be rattus rattus or rattus norvegicus - which is the species that the common fancy rat is from.
A Gerbil is part of the Meriones genus, which is the Jird family. For example you have Meriones Unguiculatus, which is the mongolian Gerbil, you also have Meriones Shawi, which is a Shaws Jird, or Meriones Persicus which is the Persian Jird.
Although, yes Gerbils do come from the 'Mice and rats' sub-order. Here is a breakdown of the family tree:
kingdom :Animal Kingdom (Regnum animale) Super class :Vertebrates (Vertebrata) Class: Mammals (Mammalia) Order: Rodents (Rodentia) Sub-order: Mice-like (Myomorpha) Super-family: Mice-like (Muroidea) Family: Hamster- and Vole-like (Cricetidae) Sub-family: Gerbils (Gerbillinae) Genus: Meriones Species: Meriones Unguiculatus
A rat's tree would be: class : mammalia order : rodentia suborder: sciurognathi family : muridae subfamily: murinae Genus: Rattus Species: Rattus norvegicus
I guess you could say they are rats??? but that would mean hamsters are too...
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Post by paws on Oct 25, 2004 8:09:23 GMT -8
Well, guass I should say gerbils are NOT rats then!
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Oct 26, 2004 6:47:34 GMT -8
Well in my country, gerbils are called "ørkenrotte" which is so annoying, because people who don't know about gerbils confuse them with rats. they think gerbils are a kind of sub-rat, or a part of the rat and mouse family. In Sweden they say "gerbil" but pronounce it differently. I really prefer the word gerbil rather than "ørkenrotte" (ørken means desert in norwegian.) desert rat is just a stupid nickname. ![:-[](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/embarrassed.png) Blacky, in the Netherlands they are often called: "woestijnratten", a rat means just rat, ratten = rats. But "woestijn" means also desert in Dutch. Luckily the name gerbil is becoming more and more common in the Netherlands. Paws, as you see in the post from Gwirrel, gerbils are more related to hamsters than to rats and mice.
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Oct 26, 2004 6:58:22 GMT -8
A rat's tree would be: class : mammalia order : rodentia suborder: sciurognathi family : muridae subfamily: murinae Genus: Rattus Species: Rattus norvegicus I guess you could say they are rats??? but that would mean hamsters are too... You mention a different suborder for rats than gerbils and hamsters. That is not true. There are different classifications for rodents made by different scientists. Rats as well gerbils are sometimes placed both in the suborder Myomorpha or both in Sciurognathi. In the Scuirognathi suborder gerbils and rats are placed in the family of Muridae, and rats in subfamily of Murinae, Hamsters in Cricetinae, and gerbils in Gerbillinae. In the suborder of Myomorpha rats, hamsters and gerbils are all placed in the superfamily of Muroidea. Only rats and mice in Family Muridae and gerbils and hamsters in Cricetidae. Than again devided in subfamily of hamsters in Cricetinae and gerbils in Gerbillinae. It depend on which scientist you will talk to. There is some disagreement on this. As with many animals!
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Post by sprigmom on Nov 6, 2004 7:25:03 GMT -8
I know I'm a bit behind the times replying now, but... the correct term for the old way of referring to Down's Syndrome is "Mongoloid." (at least it was here in Michigan) A very good family friend has a daughter a little older than me that has Down's and when I was growing up, Sherry and those like her were referred to as Mongoloid. I always thought of the word as meaning "mongol-like." Lately, tho', it's considered extremely non-PC! ![:-X](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/lipssealed.png)
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