Gut microbiota and quantitative traits divergence at different altitude of long-tailed dwarf hamsters, Cricetulus longicaudatus

The long-tailed dwarf hamster individuals were captured from Qin County (QQX, 112.66°E, 36.91°N), Zuoquan County (ZQQ, 113.29°E, 37.09°N), Shanyin County (SHY, 112.78°E, 39.54°N), Xi County (XIX, 112.78°E, 39.54°N), Loufan County (LOF, 111.79°E, 36.73°N), Linchuan County (LNC, 113.31°E, 35.79°N), Wuzhai County (WZA, 111.62°E, 38.93°N) and Kelan County (KEL, 111.77°E, 38.67°N) in Shanxi Province, during the summer of 2024. The animals used in this study were all healthy adult males individuals at the non-breeding stage. The morphological indicators were determined after capture. The determination references were as follows: body weight (BW) (accurate to 0.01 g), body length (BL), tail length, left forelimb length (FLL(left)), left hindlimb length (HLL(left)), cranial length (CL), cranial basal length (CBL), neurocranium width (NW), cranial height (CH), upper tooth row length on the left side(UTRL(left)), and lower tooth row length on the left side(LTRL(left)) (accurate to 0.01 cm). Samples of rectal feces were taken from long-tailed dwarf hamsters in the wild and then kept at -80°C until they were subjected to high-throughput 16S rDNA sequencing. The experimental protocols were carried out strictly in compliance with the People's Republic of China's Ministry of Science and Technology's Regulations on the Administration of Laboratory Animals (2017 revision).