Kids on TV and in movies always seem to be keeping hamsters and gerbils as pets. They're small, look cute, and don't need to be taken for a walk. So why don't we all have hamsters and gerbils as pets in Australia?
Plants & Animals
Dec 29, 2022
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Georgia State University scientists have created gene-edited hamsters for studies of social neuroscience and have found that the biology behind social behavior may be more complex than previously thought.
Biotechnology
May 16, 2022
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Analysis of the first fully-sequenced genome of the Siberian hamster shows how these small, seasonal breeders adapt their bodies and energy usage to survive the winter.
Biotechnology
Jun 10, 2019
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A global team of investigators has identified a key protein involved in Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a serious and sometimes fatal respiratory disease, according to research published today in the journal Nature.
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 21, 2018
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The ground squirrel and the Syrian hamster, two rodents that hibernate in the winter, do not feel cold in the same way as non-hibernators, such as rats or mice. Yale researchers have discovered that hibernating rodents evolved ...
Evolution
Dec 19, 2017
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A diet of corn is turning wild hamsters in northeastern France into deranged cannibals that devour their offspring, alarmed researchers have reported.
Plants & Animals
Jan 27, 2017
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(Phys.org)—A pair of researchers at Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K. believe they have found a way to measure happiness in hamsters. In their paper published in Royal Society Open Science, Emily Bethell and ...
(Phys.org) —Anyone who has struggled with a foggy brain while adjusting to daylight saving time knows first-hand how an out-of-sync circadian clock can impair brain function.
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 18, 2014
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Increasingly, scientific findings indicate that an organism's diet affects more than just general health and body condition. In an article published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 10, 2014
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Authorities in the French region of Alsace have launched an action plan to save a hamster facing extinction, more than two years after Europe's top court rapped Paris for neglecting the little rodent.
Plants & Animals
May 6, 2014
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Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species, classified in six or seven genera.
Hamsters are crepuscular animals which burrow underground in the daylight to avoid being caught by predators. Their diet includes a variety of foods, including dried food, berries, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables. In the wild they feed primarily on seeds, fruits and greens, and will occasionally eat burrowing insects. They have an elongated pouch on each side of their heads that extend to their shoulders, which they stuff full of food to be stored, brought back to the colony or to be eaten later.
Although the Golden Hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) was first described scientifically in 1839, it was not until 1930 that researchers were able to successfully breed and domesticate hamsters. Pet Golden Hamsters are descended from hamsters first found and captured in Syria by zoologist Israel Aharoni.
Hamster behavior can vary depending on their environment, genetics, and interaction with people. Because they are easy to breed in captivity, hamsters are often used as lab animals in more economically developed countries. Hamsters have also become established as popular small house pets. Hamsters are sometimes accepted even in areas where other rodents are disliked, and their stereotypically solitary nature can reduce the risk of excessive litters developing in households.
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