254 Mammals of Eastern Asia 
as the Dormice and the Jerboas. The former appear somewhat 
squirrel-like ; many of the latter have long legs like tiny kanga- 
roos. 
Within the Asiatic members of the Myomorph suborder, 
three super families are recognized. The first, the Muroidea, 
contains the most rat-like animals of all; the second, the Gli- 
roidea, contains the squirrel-like Dormice and the Spiny 
Dormice that somewhat resemble tree-shrews; the third, the 
Dipodoidea, contains not only the kangaroo-like Jerboas but the 
Jumping Mice and the much more mouse-like Birch Mice, 
Sicista. 
SUPERFAMILY MUROIDEA 
Most of the mammals belonging in this superfamily clearly 
look the part. The Rats, Mice, Field Mice are fairly unmis- 
takable. But the Gerbils resemble the Jerboas, while the 
Bamboo Rats appear a good deal like the Pocket Gophers, 
though they lack the "pockets." The superfamily contains four 
families, Cricetidse, Spalacidse (none in our area), Rhizomyidse, 
and Muridae. The first and last are very large families; the 
second and third comprise but a handful of genera each. 
THE HAMSTERS, VOLES, AND GERBILS 
(FAMILY CRICETID.E) 
As the three names above suggest, three distinct subfamilies 
appear in this family : The Hamsters and Mole Rats, subfamily 
Cricetinse, the Gerbils, subfamily Gerbillinse (none occur in 
our region), and the Voles and Meadow Mice, subfamily 
Microtinse. 
The Hamsters are thickset in body form and have very short 
tails. In the New World their relatives, although highly varied 
in structure, are often much more mouse-like; they include 
most of the native Rats and Mice of the Americas. The Gerbils 
