Gerbils only became popular pets in the English-speaking world after 1954, when 20 males and 26 females were brought to the United States from eastern Mongolia for scientific testing. Almost all pet gerbils today are descended from them. Gerbils were brought to the United Kingdom in 1964 from the United States. In science Gerbils have a long history of use in scientific research, although nowadays they are rarely used. For example, in the United Kingdom in 2017, only around 300 Mongolian gerbils were used in experimental procedures, compared to over 2 million mice. Tumblebrook Farm Most gerbils used in scientific research are derived from the Tumblebrook Farm strain, which has its origins in 20 pairs of wild-caught Mongolian gerbils sent to Japan in 1935. Eleven of these animals were subsequently sent to Tumblebrook Farm in the USA, with additional animals later sent to Charles River Ltd in Italy in 1996. Hearing Gerbils have a wide hearing range, from detection of low frequency foot drumming to higher frequency chirps and therefore may be a more suitable model of human hearing loss than mice and rats, which are high-frequency specialists. Vocal Male gerbils can produce ultrasonic sounds with frequencies ranging from approximately 27 to 35 kHz and amplitudes ranging from approximately 0 to 70 dBa. Their larynx is involved in the production of these ultrasonic sounds. Experimentation revealed five findings of interest, which are that adults only emit ultrasonic sounds when stimulated socially, males signal more frequently than females, dominant males are more active in vocalizations than subordinate males, ultrasounds are triggered by conspecific odors, and that d-amphetamine, a central nervous system stimulant, contributes high levels of ultrasounds while chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic medication, lowers the emission rate. Epilepsy 10–20% of gerbils exhibit spontaneous epileptiform seizures, typically in response to a stressor such as handling or cage cleaning. Epilepsy in gerbils has a genetic basis, and seizure-prone and seizure-resistant lines have been bred. Diabetes Like other desert rodents such as fat sandrats, Mongolian gerbils are susceptible to diet-induced diabetes, although incidence is low. A diabetes-prone line has recently been generated, showing that gerbil diabetes has at least some genetic basis. Genetics and genomics Laboratory gerbils are derived from a small number of founders, and so genetic diversity was generally assumed to be low. Initial genetic studies based on small numbers of genetic markers appeared to support this, but more recent genome-wide Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS)