FIRST PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORDS AND NEW DISTRIBUTION RANGE OF THE ENDANGERED LONG-TAILED NESOKIA NESOKIA BUNNII (KHAJURIA, 1981)

Authors

  • Omar F. Al-Sheikhly Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
  • Boris Kryštufek Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Prešernova 20, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • Rainer Hutterer Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
  • Mukhtar K. Haba University of Baghdad, College of Science for Women, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
  • Nadheer A. Fazaa Department of Biology, College of Science for Women, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.
  • Ra’ad H. Al-Asady Independent researcher, Al-Chebaeish Organization of Ecotourism, Al-Chebaeish, ThiQar, Iraq.
  • Sayed B. Mousavi Independent researcher, Khuzestan, Ahvaz, Iran.
  • Danijel Ivajnšič Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Faculty of Arts, University of Maribor, Koroška 160, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia.
  • Javier Lazaro Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior, AmObstberg 1, 78315 Radofzell, Germany.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26842/binhm.7.2021.16.4.0635

Keywords:

Conservation, Endemic, Garden of Eden, Mesopotamian Marshes, Rodents of Iraq-Iran.

Abstract

In the 1970s, the world knew the long-tailed nesokia Nesokia bunnii (Khajuria, 1981) (Rodentia, Muridae) from the Mesopotamian marshes of Garden of Eden in Southern Iraq. This distinct rodent was known from only five voucher specimens collected at the confluence of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in southern Iraq while its occurrence in Southwestern Iran had
never been reported. In the 1990s, a large extent of its natural habitat was catastrophically desiccated and the animal was last seen in the 1970s. Since then, the status of this elusive rodent was shrouded in mystery. In 2007, an extraordinary photograph of a carcass of this species came to the light from Hawizeh Marsh which was interpreted as concrete evidence of the species’ persistence in the marshes of southern Iraq after the desiccation in the last century. In 2021, after more than 40 years, exclusive photographic records of living N. bunnii were obtained for the first time from Central Marshes in southern Iraq and from Edhe’am Marsh in southwestern Iran. The new distribution range is highlighted in this note. Furthermore, the first photographs of living N. bunnii are provided along with notes on its ecology and behavior.

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Published

2021-12-19

Issue

Section

Original Articles