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