Desert dormouse
Selevinia betpakdalaensis Belosludov & Bazhanov, 1939
The desert dormouse (Selevinia betpakdalaensis) is a species in the family Gliridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 17.1 g to 28 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Data Deficient.
Quick facts about the desert dormouse
- Weight
- 17.1 g – 28 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6.9src for Young per litter or clutch
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Data Deficient (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the desert dormouse live?
Not recorded
What is the desert dormouse?
The desert dormouse (Selevinia betpakdalaensis) is a species of rodent in the dormouse family, Gliridae. This species was formerly placed in its own family, Seleviniidae, but it is now considered to be a dormouse, monotypic within the genus Selevinia.
It is endemic to Kazakhstan.
From the Wikipedia article “Desert dormouse” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Desert_dormouse&oldid=1368876628), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the desert dormouse endangered?
The desert dormouse is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List: it has too little data for its risk to be assessed.
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Data Deficient species.
How is the desert dormouse classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyGliridae
- genusSelevinia
- SpeciesSelevinia betpakdalaensis Belosludov & Bazhanov, 1939
Synonyms Selevinia paradoxa
Other names and names in other languages (19)
- Betpakdala dormouseEnglish
- زغبة الصحراءArabic
- SalzkrautbilchGerman
- WüstenschläferGerman
- aavikkounikekoFinnish
- נמנמן מדבריHebrew
- Ghiro del desertoItalian
- サバクヤマネJapanese
- ЖалманKazakh
- KasakhsyvsoverNorwegian Bokmål
- WoestijnslaapmuisDutch
- SelewinkaPolish
- selewinka pustynnaPolish
- СелевинияRussian
- Боялычная соняRussian
- Boyalychnaya SonyaRussian
- SeleviniyaRussian
- betpakdalski polhSlovenian
- Çöl kakırcasıTurkish
Relatives of the desert dormouse
Other species in the same family Gliridae.
European edible dormouse
Glis glis
Hazel dormouse
Muscardinus avellanarius
Garden dormouse
Eliomys quercinus
Forest dormouse
Dryomys nitedula
Japanese dormouse
Glirulus japonicus
Chinese dormouse
Chaetocauda sichuanensis
CompareDesert dormouse vs European edible dormouseDesert dormouse vs Hazel dormouseDesert dormouse vs Garden dormouseDesert dormouse vs Forest dormouse
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the desert dormouse?
An adult desert dormouse weighs 17.1 g – 28 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the desert dormouse endangered?
The desert dormouse is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List, meaning it has too little data for its risk to be assessed.
What kind of animal is the desert dormouse?
The desert dormouse (Selevinia betpakdalaensis) belongs to the family Gliridae in the order Rodentia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Desert dormouse (Selevinia betpakdalaensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-dormouse
“Desert dormouse (Selevinia betpakdalaensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-dormouse.
@misc{desert_dormouse_2026,
title = {Desert dormouse (Selevinia betpakdalaensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-dormouse},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}