Greater Egyptian Gerbil

The sand fox was once found in the Arava sands and the sandy Haluza-Revivim-Ze’elim area. There are even unconfirmed data from further north in Mishor Yamin and the Dead Sea shores.
Name: Greater Egyptian Gerbil
Latin Name: Gerbillus pyramidum
Hebrew name: גרביל חולות, gerbil holot
Order: Rodentia
Family: Gerbillinae
Distribution: From the sands of the Western Negev (Agur and Shunera), via the Gaza Strip, north to Holon and Rishon LeZiyyon, east to Rotem plain.
Habitat: Shifting dunes or semi-stabile sand with sparse vegetation.
Notes: The population in the 1950s extended from the Western Negev sands north to the Yarqon River. A population was discovered in the coastal sands of the Western Galilee in the 1970s, which probably originated from several gerbils brought over by man; there is no later evidence pointing to the existence of the greater Egyptian gerbil in the Western Galilee coastal sands.