gerboa

Noun

jerboa (plural jerboas)

1. Any of a number of species comprising the family Dipodidae, native to the deserts of Asia and northern Africa, being a small, jumping rodent with a long tufted tail, very small forefeet and very long hind legs.
   • The Arabs, who are forbidden all other kinds of mice, esteem these the greatest delicacies: as those people often are disappointed in digging after them, they have this proverb, "To buy a hole instead of a jerboa."1814, Augustin Calmet, Charles Taylor, Edward Wells, Calmet's Great Dictionary of the Holy Bible, page 293

   Synonyms:

   dipodid