It was named in honour of its discoverer, the British military officer, explorer and ornithologist Robert Ernest Cheesman who collected it while on an exploratory expedition in Saudi Arabia.

Its range includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Jordan.

[1] Its natural habitat is arid plains with sandy soils, deserts and sabkha, flat coastal salt pans.

[1] This is a nocturnal species, spending the heat of the day in a burrow and emerging at night to forage for seeds and grasses, although it may become omnivorous in some circumstances.

By feeding at night it is able to make use of the dew on plants and it can conserve moisture by producing dry faeces and very little urine.