Hamster

Hamstring Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Current
Campbell's dwarf hamster
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Cricetinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817
Genera
Mesocricetus Phodopus Cricetus Cricetulus Allocricetulus Cansumys Tscherskia

Hamsters are rodents belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae. The subfamily contains about 25 species in six or seven genera.^[1] They have become established as popular small house pets.^[2] They are a bit like a mouse. Wild hamsters live in the desert, but people all over the world keep domesticated hamsters as pets.

In the wild, hamsters are crepuscular and stay underground during the day. They feed on seeds, fruits, and vegetation, and occasionally eat burrowing insects. Hamsters are distinguished by their large cheek pouches, and relatively short tail. They use their long cheek pouches, extending to their shoulders, to carry food back to their burrows.^[3]

Even though the Syrian hamster or golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) was first described scientifically by George Robert Waterhouse in 1839, researchers were not able to successfully breed and domesticate hamsters until 1939.^[2]

1. ↑ Fox, Sue. 2006. Hamsters. T.F.H. Publications Inc.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Cite error: The named reference Barrie was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
3. ↑ Patricia Pope Bartlett 2003. The hamster handbook. Barron's Educational Series, p113. ISBN 978-0-7641-2294-1