The long-eared jerboa is so mysterious, so weird, and so cute that people on the interwebs seem to be absolutely in love with this little creature. The long-eared jerboa looks like a cross between a mouse, a rabbit, a pig, and a kangaroo. Many jerboa species live in desert areas near oases or valleys. They forage for food in open areas with sparse vegetation—often to avoid competing with gerbils, which live in many of the same areas but prefer heavier vegetation.

The long-eared jerboa is a rare, nocturnal, mouse-like rodent with legs for days, exceptionally large ears, and a long tail. The body of the animal is around 2.8 in to 3.5 in long while its tail is double this size. Apparently, the animal was first caught on film in the wild in 2007 during a Zoological Society of London expedition to the Gobi. Besides, the animal has the largest ears relative to its size in the whole animal kingdom. The long-eared jerboa is one of 33 jerboa species that are found from North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula to Asia. Scientists haven't determined exactly how high this particular jerboa species can jump, but some jerboas can leap up to six feet.

The animal is native to the deserts of southern Mongolia and northwestern China. Since they're primarily nocturnal, they spend the day in underground burrows which they dug themselves. As for their diet, they mostly consume flying insects. The lifespan of a long-eared jerboa is around 2 to 3 years. Its ears measure around two-thirds of its body size. Because of its large, kangaroo-like back legs, it can jump pretty high. The front legs are relatively small, and it doesn't use them for getting around. "Jerboas have very erratic locomotion, adopting a zigzag trajectory, and can jump several feet both vertically and horizontally, even though they are usually about the size of your fist," Talia Yuki Moore, a Harvard graduate student studying locomotion in three jerboa species, told National Geographic. Its tail is double the size of its body.