Golden hamster stock of hamsters was exported from Syria to the United States in 1971, but apparently none of today's North American pets is descended from these (at least in the female line), because recent mitochondrial DNA studies have established that all domestic golden hamsters are descended from one female – probably the one captured in 1930 in Syria. Since the species was named, the genus "Cricetus" has been subdivided and this species (together with several others) was separated into the genus "Mesocricetus", leading to the currently accepted scientific name for the golden hamster of "Mesocricetus auratus". Following Professor Aharoni's collection in
The Hamsters These covers only made up a small part of their playlist, the majority being Americana. As of March 2009, the Hamsters are in their 21st year and claim to have performed more than 4,000 shows. They have constantly toured throughout UK and occasionally mainland Europe. In 1991 they performed a small tour in the US. The group has been described as "the hardest working band in the UK". In 2000, the Hamsters were runners-up in the best blues rock band category, voted on by the readers of "Blueprint". They contributed a track for the BBC Radio 2 series "Bright Lights,