Mesocricetus

Mesocricetus Temporal range: Early Pliocene - Recent
Mesocricetus auratus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Cricetinae
Genus:	Mesocricetus Nehring, 1894
Species
Mesocricetus auratus Mesocricetus brandti Mesocricetus newtoni Mesocricetus raddei

Mesocricetus is a genus of Old World hamsters, including the Golden hamster or Syrian hamster, the first hamster to be introduced as a domestic pet and still the most popular species for that purpose.

Recent research has shown that, unlike almost all other land mammals studied, two species of this genus (M. auratus and M. brandti) lack the capacity for colour vision (Williams and Jacobs, 2008).

Species

• Mesocricetus auratus: Golden hamster
• Mesocricetus brandti: Turkish hamster, or Brandt's hamster
• Mesocricetus newtoni: Romanian Hamster
• Mesocricetus raddei: Ciscaucasian Hamster

References

• http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/mammalia/rodentia/cricetidae/mesocricetus/
• Williams, G. A., & Jacobs, G. H. (2008). Absence of functional short-wavelength sensitive cone pigments in hamsters (Mesocricetus). Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology. doi:10.1007/s00359-008-0316-4