NEW MAMMALIAN RECORDS FROM EGYPT

Saleh, Mostafa A.; Basuony, Mohammad I.

doi:10.12816/0009339

NEW MAMMALIAN RECORDS FROM EGYPT

Document Type : Original Research Papers

Authors

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt

10.12816/0009339

Abstract

New distributional data on 14 species of mammals in Egypt are presented. The North African Hedgehog Atelerix algirus, the Badger Meles meles and the Honey Badger Mellivora capensisare herein recorded for the first time from Egypt. Moreover, specimens representing a number of species previously reported from Egypt based on casual sightings or verbal reports were also collected and examined for the first time in Egypt. The patchy distribution of mammals and their habitats in Egypt and northeastern Sahara is described and discussed from a historical biogeographic perspective, with barriers and corridors controlling faunal dispersal and genetic exchange. We also present data on a number of species that have undergone major population decline in the past few years as a result of hunting, commercial over-exploitation and habitat destruction, and are locally or globally threatened with extinction.

Highlights

Erratum: The authors mentioned in the abstract and in page 116 that the Meles meles (Badger) is recorded for the first time from Egypt in the present paper. It is not true, since Meles meles (Badger) was previously recorded in Egypt by Soliman (2006) "Soliman, S. (2006). The Common Badger, Meles meles, (Linnaeus, 1758) (Carnivora, Mustelidae): a new record from northeastern Sinai, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Zoolology, 47: 221-225."

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