HAMSTER SPECIES

In the area around Toronto, Ontario, Canada, there are generally only three species / kinds of Hamsters for sale commercially. These are the Syrian (Mesocricetus auratus) and the Dwarf Hamster (Phodopus sungorus)(Phodopus sungorus campbelli).

In other areas of the world, Chinese (Cricetulus griseus) and Robo’s (Phodopus roborovskii) are available, but we have not seen them locally.

There are over fifty (50) different kinds of Cricetinae (hamsters) recorded, some are extinct in the wild, some are endangered.

There are various “Marketing Schemes” by some stores promoting “Teddy Bear Hamsters” and “Black Bear Hamsters”. Teddy Bears and Black Bears are Syrian Hamsters, and THEY ARE NOT A SEPARATE SPECIES! There is no reason to charge more for these creatures in a store than others, it is purely a breeder / store / money problem.

Below is a more complete listing of species information we have found, but not available in Canada.

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MORE INFO

CRICETINAE

SOME OF THESE SUB SPECIES ARE NOT CONSIDERED TO BE "HAMSTERS" BY SOME EXPERTS

Calomyscus

	Common Name	Proper Name
	Mouselike hamster	*Calomyscus bailwardi*

Cansumys

	Common Name	Proper Name
		*Cansumys canus*

Cricetus

	Common Name	Proper Name
	European hamster	*Cricetus cricetus*

Cricetulus

	Common Name	Proper Name
	Ladek Hamster	*Cricetulus alticola*
	Chinese Striped hamster	*Cricetulus barabensis*
	Mongolian hamster	*Cricetulus curtatus*
	Kazakh hamster	*Cricetulus eversmani*
	Chinese hamster	*Cricetulus griseus*
	Tibetan hamster	*Cricetulus kamensis*
	Long-tailed hamster	*Cricetulus longicaudatus*
	Armenian hamster	*Cricetulus migratorius*
	Ratlike hamster	*Cricetulus sokolovi*
	Korean hamster	*Cricetulus triton*

Mesocricetus

	Common Name	Proper Name
	Syrian hamster	*Mesocricetus auratus*
	Turkish hamster	*Mesocricetus brandti*
	Romanian hamster	*Mesocricetus newtoni*
	Georgian hamster	*Mesocricetus raddei*

Mystromys

	Common Name	Proper Name
	South African hamster	*Mystromys albicaudatus*

Phodopus

	Common Name	Proper Name
	Whinter White hamster	*Phodopus sungorus sungorus*
	Campbell hamster	*Phodopus* *sungorus* *campbelli*
	Roborovskii hamster	*Phodopus roborovskii*

Note: Many sources, books and web sites have different listings for these species, and some are even governmental or institutions of a medical, research or teaching community.

Much of the confusion depends on when the information they use was current, as some species were split or combined over the last hundred years. “Phodopus” was not originally split into three sub species, so early texts referring to the characteristics of the species, maybe referring to the wrong species in the text, as they are understood today.

Some of the Common Names apply to two different sub species, and they live in the same area. Cricetulus curtatus is referred to in some text as the “Mongolian Hamster”, while other text referred to Phodopus roborovskii as the “Mongolian Hamster”. Both are native to Mongolia. Some times the names don’t translate well back and forth either, and this can cause problems.

There is several names used for the same thing, allocricetulus eversmanni is the same as “cricetulus eversmanni”, but they bring different search results.

One site had two species, “cricetulus barabensis” (Chinese Striped Hamster) and “cricetulus griseus” (Chinese Hamster), while the US Gov. NCBI site, says that “cricetulus barabensis” (Chinese Striped Hamster) is really “cricetulus barabensis griseus”, one and the same with “cricetulus griseus” (Chinese Hamster).

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