List of mammals of the Palestinian territories

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This is a list of mammal species recorded in the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.[1]

The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by the IUCN:

EX Extinct No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
EW Extinct in the wild Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized populations well outside its previous range.
CR Critically endangered The species is in imminent risk of extinction in the wild.
EN Endangered The species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
VU Vulnerable The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
NT Near threatened The species does not meet any of the criteria that would categorise it as risking extinction but it is likely to do so in the future.
LC Least concern There are no current identifiable risks to the species.
DD Data deficient There is inadequate information to make an assessment of the risks to this species.

Some species were assessed using an earlier set of criteria. Species assessed using this system have the following instead of near threatened and least concern categories:

LR/cd Lower risk/conservation dependent Species which were the focus of conservation programmes and may have moved into a higher risk category if that programme was discontinued.
LR/nt Lower risk/near threatened Species which are close to being classified as vulnerable but are not the subject of conservation programmes.
LR/lc Lower risk/least concern Species for which there are no identifiable risks.

Subclass: Theria

Infraclass: Eutheria

Order: Hyracoidea (hyraxes)

Cape hyrax

The hyraxes are four species of furry, cat-sized, thickset, herbivorous mammals that might resemble rodents at first glance, but have hooves and two caniniform incisors among other features that betray their distant evolutionary relation to elephants. They are native to Africa and the Middle East.

Order: Rodentia (rodents)

File:Hystrix indica (Indian Crested Porcupine) at IG Zoological park, Visakhapatnam 03.JPG
Indian porcupine
Caucasian squirrel
Greater Egyptian jerboa
Palestine mole rat
File:Psammomys obesus 01.jpg
Sand rat
File:NesokiaHuttoni.jpg
Drawing of a short-tailed bandicoot rat
File:Sinaistachelmaus.jpg
Eastern spiny mouse

Rodents make up the largest order of mammals, with over 40 percent of mammalian species. They have two incisors in the upper and lower jaw which grow continually and must be keep short by gnawing. Most rodents are small though the capybara can weigh up to 45 kg (100 lb).

Order: Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares and picas)

Cape hare

The lagomorphs comprise two families, Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and Ochotonidae (pikas). Though they can resemble rodents, and were classified as a superfamily in that order until the early 20th century, they have since been considered a separate order. They differ from rodents in a number of physical characteristics, such as having four incisors in the upper jaw rather than two.

Order: Erinaceomorpha (hedgehogs and gymnures)

The order Erinaceomorpha contains a single family, Erinaceidae, which comprise the hedgehogs and gymnures. The hedgehogs are easily recognised by their spines while gymnures look more like large rats.

Order: Soricomorpha (shrews, moles, and solenodons)

File:Gartenspitzmaus.jpg
Lesser white-toothed shrew

The "shrew-forms" are insectivorous mammals. The shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice while the moles are stout bodied burrowers.

Order: Chiroptera (bats)

File:Rousettus aegyptiacus Tel Aviv 250504.jpg
Egyptian fruit bat
File:Rhinolophus euryale-cropped.jpg
Mediterranean horseshoe bat
File:Eptesicus serotinus.jpg
Serotine bat
Common noctule
File:Otonycteris hemprichii.jpg
Desert long-eared bat

The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals in the world naturally capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals.

Order: Cetacea (whales)

Short-beaked common dolphin with calf
Sperm whale group
Cuvier's beaked whale

The order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. They are the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life with a spindle-shaped nearly hairless body, protected by a thick layer of blubber, and forelimbs and tail modified to provide propulsion underwater.

Species listed below also includes species being recorded in Levantine Sea except for gray whale.

Order: Carnivora (carnivorans)

File:נמר.JPG
The Arabian leopard is one of the most endangered leopards in the world
File:हुँडार.JPG
Striped hyena
Honey badger

There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition.

Order: Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates)

The hemippe, the local subspecies of the onager, has been extinct since the 1920s, but other onagers have been introduced in the Levant in later decades.

The odd-toed ungulates are browsing and grazing mammals. They are usually large to very large, and have relatively simple stomachs and a large middle toe.

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Dorcas gazelle

The even-toed ungulates are ungulates whose weight is borne about equally by the third and fourth toes, rather than mostly or entirely by the third as in perissodactyls. There are about 220 artiodactyl species, including many that are of great economic importance to humans.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The taxonomy and naming of the individual species is based on those used in existing Wikipedia articles as of 9 January 2013 and supplemented by the common names and taxonomy from the IUCN where no Wikipedia article was available.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Update on the Cetacean Fauna of the Mediterranean Levantine Basin
  3. ↑ Last reported in Samaria in the 14th century. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalaf-von Jaffa (2006) The Asiatic or Persian Lion (Panthera leo persica, Meyer 1826) in Palestine and the Arabian and Islamic Region in Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin. Number 58, pp. 1-13.

References

  • Aulagnier, S. et al. (2008) Guide des mammifères d'Europe, d'Afrique du Nord et de Moyen-Orient. Delachaux et Niestlé, Paris
  • McDonald, D. & Barrett, P. (1993) Collins Field Guide. Mammals of Britain and Europe. Harper Collins Publishers, London
  • Reeves, R.R. et al. (2002) Sea Mammals of the World. A & C Black, London
  • IUCN Red List - The Red List of Threatened Species
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