Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 120, December 2014, pp. 30-53. | Page 10

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Prof. Dr. Sc. Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalaf-Sakerfalke von Jaffa is collecting
specimens of the new Umm Dimna White Desert Land Snail Subspecies Sphincterochila
boissieri ummdimna Khalaf, 2014 from Umm Dimna (Dimona) Area in Al-Naqab
(Negev) Desert, Occupied Palestine. Photo by the Researcher Daoud Al-Hali.
22.12.2014. https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15998704379/

Feeding Habits
Sphincterochila boissieri feeds on soil, especially loess mud after rains, lichens, soil
algae and surface of limestone directly. It does not eat higher plants (Wikipedia).

Predators
The known predators of Sphincterochila boissieri are rodents, namely the Cairo
Spiny Mouse (Acomys cahirinus), Wagner's Gerbil (Dipodillus dasyurus) and the
Asian Garden Dormouse (Eliomys melanurus) (Wikipedia).

Distribution
Sphincterochila boissieri lives in Al-Naqab (Negev) Desert in Palestine/Israel, and
the Sinai Desert in the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt). The new Umm Dimna subspecies
Sphincterochila boissieri ummdimna Khalaf, 2014 lives in the Umm Dimna
(Dimona) Area in the Northern Al-Naqab (Negev) Desert, Occupied Palestine.
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 120 – December 2014