Thin sand rat
Psammomys vexillaris Thomas, 1925
The thin sand rat (Psammomys vexillaris) is a species in the family Muridae, order Rodentia. Recorded adults weigh 114.8 g to 177.3 g and live up to 3.14 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Data Deficient.
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Quick facts about the thin sand rat
- Weight
- 114.8 g – 177.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 3.14 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 3.2 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 24.8 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3.29 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 3.44src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Data Deficient (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the thin sand rat live?
Not recorded
What is the thin sand rat?
The thin sand rat or lesser sand rat (Psammomys vexillaris) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It has also been previously named the pale sand rat based on work published by Oldfield Thomas in 1925.
It is found in Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia, and its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and intermittent salt lakes.
The thin sand rat was previously classified as a subspecies of the fat sand rat. However, morphological differences in size and coat color between the two animals, along with recent molecular evidence suggest that they are different species.
The thin sand rat may be a natural reservoir for the disease leishmaniasis.
From the Wikipedia article “Thin sand rat” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thin_sand_rat&oldid=1315360899), 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 thin sand rat endangered?
The thin sand rat 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 thin sand rat classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusPsammomys
- SpeciesPsammomys vexillaris Thomas, 1925
Synonyms Psammomys vexillaris edusa
Other names and names in other languages (8)
- Lesser sand ratEnglish
- Lesser sand ratEnglish
- Pale sand ratEnglish
- pískomil denníCzech
- hoikkajirdiFinnish
- Rat de sable de ThomasFrench
- ウスイロデブスナネズミJapanese
- piaskówka chudaPolish
Relatives of the thin sand rat
Other species in the same genus Psammomys.
Fat sand rat
Psammomys obesus
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the thin sand rat?
An adult thin sand rat weighs 114.8 g – 177.3 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the thin sand rat endangered?
The thin sand rat is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List, meaning it has too little data for its risk to be assessed.
How long does the thin sand rat live?
The thin sand rat has a recorded lifespan of 3.14 years.
How long is the thin sand rat pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 24.8 days.
What kind of animal is the thin sand rat?
The thin sand rat (Psammomys vexillaris) belongs to the family Muridae 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 - 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
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CreatureData. (2026). Thin sand rat (Psammomys vexillaris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/thin-sand-rat
“Thin sand rat (Psammomys vexillaris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/thin-sand-rat.
@misc{thin_sand_rat_2026,
title = {Thin sand rat (Psammomys vexillaris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/thin-sand-rat},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}