Final answer:
Mongolian gerbils, along with similar rodents, have historically been used as a source of food and fur by Mongols and have contributed to the spread of diseases like the plague.
Step-by-step explanation:
Other than being kept as pets, Mongolian gerbils have had various uses throughout history.
One historical use of gerbils involves them serving as a food source, where the Mongols hunted marmots, a similar rodent, for food and used their pelts as well (Smith, 1984).
Furthermore, gerbils and other rodents have also played a role in the spread of diseases like the plague, where they could have been accidentally transported and facilitated the transmission of the bacteria Yersinia pestis to humans (Cleaves, 1982; Zhang et al., 2012).