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The Iranian jerboa (Allactaga firouzi Womochel, 1978) is one of the rarest rodent species in the world and it has been reported exclusively from a single site in central Iran. Because of its restricted geographical distribution and habitat degradation, it has been classified as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List. From April 2007 to February 2009 on a small area (2200 ha) of semi-arid grazed steppe (altitude 2000 m, surface covered by bare soil and/or scarce shrub and grass vegetation) we studied the architecture structure of burrow system and burrow site selection of Iranian jerboa. Three types of burrows including temporary burrows, winter and summer burrows were detected in the studied habitat. Habitat characteristics such as the percentage cover of bare soil, pebble and cobble and desert plant species like Anabasis aphylla, Artemisis siberi, and Peganum harmala, as well as the selected chemical soil parameters (content of calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate) were measured in the burrow sites and compared with similar variables measured at random plots in the non-burrow sites.

The principal component analysis successfully distinguished between the burrow sites and the non-burrow areas. The burrow site selection was mainly influenced by percentage cover of bare soil, vegetation type, soil texture and chemistry.