Their use in science dates back to the latter half of the 19th century, but they only started to be kept as pets in the English-speaking world after 1954, when they were brought to the United States.

The first known mention of gerbils came in 1866, by Father Armand David, who sent "yellow rats" to the French National Museum of Natural History in Paris, from northern China.

The genus was named by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in 1811,[7] deriving from the Greek word μηρος (femur).

[8] Mongolian gerbils inhabit grassland, shrubland and desert, including semidesert and steppes in China, Mongolia, and the Russian Federation.

[citation needed] One group of gerbils generally ranges over 325–1,550 square metres (400–1,900 sq yd).

[failed verification][18] 10–20% of gerbils exhibit spontaneous epileptiform seizures, typically in response to a stressor such as handling or cage cleaning.

[20][21] Like other desert rodents such as fat sandrats, Mongolian gerbils are susceptible to diet-induced diabetes, although incidence is low.

[23][24] Laboratory gerbils are derived from a small number of founders, and so genetic diversity was generally assumed to be low.

[14] It has been suggested that laboratory gerbils should be considered domesticated, and designated "M. unguiculatus forma domestica" to differentiate them from wild animals.

[27] A Mongolian gerbil genome sequence was published in 2018[28] and a genetic map comprising 22 linkage groups (one per chromosome) in 2019.

[32] Their behavior tends to vary when faced with different settings; in the wild, the large population of gerbils means that finding and selecting a mate is not a problem.

[38] Selective breeding for the pet trade has resulted in a wide range of different color and pattern varieties.

However, due to the threat they pose to indigenous ecosystems and existing agricultural operations, it is illegal to purchase, import, or keep a gerbil as a pet in the U.S. state of California.

[44][45] Gerbils also have adapted their kidneys to produce a minimum of waste to conserve body fluids, which makes them very clean with little odor.

[49] A way to prevent a gerbil from having a seizure is to refrain from blowing in the animal's face (often used to "train" the pet not to bite).

It produces symptoms such as ruffled fur, lethargy, hunched posture, poor appetite, diarrhoea, and often death.

Gerbils with "extreme white spotting" colouring are susceptible to deafness; this is thought to be due to the lack of pigmentation in and around the ear.

[51] Many color varieties of gerbils are available in pet shops today, generally the result of years of selective breeding.

They are smaller than the common Mongolian gerbils, and have long, soft coats and short, fat tails, appearing more like a hamster.