22. Wagner’s Gerbil, Gerbillus (Dipodillus) dasyurus (Wagner, 1842)

(IUCN Red List: LC)

Subspecies: G. d. palmyrae Lehmann, 1966, G. d. leosollicitus Lehmann, 1966 and G. d. dasyroides (Nehring, 1901) .

Distribution: Common to semi-arid steppes and plains. It was recorded in rocky areas, open plains, and on banks of the Barada River (Fig. 28).

Previous records: Vicinity of Aleppo, Deir Al-Hajar, and Palmyra (Lehmann 1966; Kumerloeve 1975), southeast steppe (Harrison & Bates 1991), and Karahta, Ain Arab, and Sakra (Shehab et al. 2018).

Recent record: Adra (2020).

Remarks: The name used by earlier authors was Dipodillus (Petteromys) dasyurus (Wagner, 1842) . Several subspecies were recognized in the past: G. d. palmyrae Lehmann, 1966 described from Palmyra, G. d. leosollicitus Lehmann, 1966 from Deir Al-Hajar near Damascus and the vicinity of Aleppo (Lehmann 1966), and G. d. dasyroides (Nehring, 1901) from the southeastern steppes. Colour of the dorsal pelage varies in a mosaic manner, matching soil colour and other environmental factors (Harrison & Bates 1991). However, Burgin et al. (2020) reported Wagner’s gerbil as a monotypic species.