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. |