Absurd Creatures | This Tiny Adorable Critter Is Half Kangaroo, Half Velociraptor

[Playful Music]

As House of Pain once said, Jump around, jump around,

jump around, jump up, jump up

and get down.

They were talking about partying, I think,

but it may as well be the anthem of a remarkable

hopping little rodent called the jerboa.

Just look at those crazy long legs.

A jerboa looks like a tiny kangaroo,

only it doesn't have an Australian accent

because it lives in the deserts of North Africa

and Asia and the Arabian peninsula.

And no jerboa is cuter or more bizarre

than this super rare, and sadly endangered,

long-eared jerboa.

For the love of Pete, look at this magnificent thing.

Now, the jerboa kind of looks like it has backwards knees.

But in fact, that long bit is made up

of super stretched out foot bones.

Its knees are actually up at its torso.

Equipped with such powerful legs,

the tiny rodent can leap up to six feet

and that's not just because it digs House of Pain.

It forages for seeds out in the open,

where plenty of birds of prey keep watch,

but why not stick the the protection of a bush?

Well, the jerboa shares a habitat with a ravenous gerbil.

Which, in addition to being the world's worst first pet,

also eats seeds and tends to stick to shrubbery.

The only escape option for the gerbil

is to pretty much just run full-tilt straight ahead,

but the jerboa is a master of maneuverability.

It jukes right or left and can rocket itself

straight up in the air.

This is confounding for birds of prey

because they have to perfectly time their attack.

They only get one shot to land on their target.

If the jerboa is juking around,

it's that much harder for the hunter.

By venturing out into the open,

the jerboa takes on some risk,

but avoids competing for food with those rascally gerbils.

So jump around, little jerboa.

Jump around, jump around, jump.