Meriones rex (King jird), Meriones libycus (Libyan jird), Acomys dimidiatus (Eastern spiny mouse), Acomys cahirinus (Egyptian spiny mouse) and Dipodillus dasyurus (Wagner's dipodil) are five species of small rodents of the superfamily Muroidea with distributions in Eastern Africa, Egypt and the desert regions of the Arabian Peninsula.Water is scarce in these regions and may result in relatively low-digestible food. The aim of the present study is to describe and compare the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) morphology and morphometry of these five species in order to elucidate whether morphology is influenced by phylogeny or dietary preference. All the species can be grouped in the family Muridae in two subfamilies and similarities were observed including the hemiglandular stomach and relatively large caecum. It could be concluded that phylogeny plays an important role in determining GIT morphology while diet plays a subordinate role in the desert rodents in the present study.
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