Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 20, December 1990, pp. 1-11. | Page 6

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(greater than 400 mm. rain) are distinctly larger than those of the more arid areas
(50-400 mm. rain). The question of whether these two discrete populations
should be given separate subspecific status has to remain open until more
material from other areas in the Near East can be examined. For the time being,
the terms "Mediterranean pallipes" and "Desert pallipes" will be used
(Mendelssohn I982).
A very large male from the Syrian Golan, with a CBL of 226.7 mm., and a weight
of 32.3 kilogram and a dense, dark winter fur, is certainly quite different from
any Canis lupus pallipes and looks more like a European wolf.
It is remarkable that the wolves that lived in the Huleh Valley fall well within the
range of the Mediterranean pallipes. The Huleh Valley is only a few kilometer
distance from the Golan, but about 1,000 meter lower. The amount of rain is
about the same in both areas, but the Huleh Valley is much warmer
(Mendelssohn I982).
Weights of Mediterranean pallipes wolves: the mean of males 23.6 kilogram; and
the mean of Desert pallipes wolves: males 20.1 kg, females 17.0 kg; while the
mean weight of Canis lupus arabs: males 18.0 kg, a female 12.3 kilogram.
It may seem strange that in such a small country as Palestine, only 410 kilometer
from north to south, there are three distinct populations of such wide-ranging
animals as wolves. There are, however, considerable climatic differences.
Perhaps the different populations are well adapted to local climatic conditions. A
similar situation is found with the leopard. They formerly occurred in Galilee,
and perhaps in other areas in the north, Panthera pardus tulliana (now extinct in
Palestine), one of the largest of the leopard subspecies. However, in the
Jerusalem or Judean Desert and in the Naqab, Panthera pardus nimr occurs, one of
the smallest subspecies. Perhaps for these two subspecies, the 400 mm. isohyet
was also the dividing line. The greatly varying environmental conditions over
relatively small distances in Palestine may stimulate the development of
differing populations adapted to special local conditions. There is in Palestine
four populations of mole-rat Spalax ehrenbergi that differ in size, chromosomes
and behavior (Mendelssohn I982).
The fur of Canis lupus pallipes and Canis lupus arabs is very short and thin in
summer. The dorsal hair is somewhat longer, even in summer. Perhaps the
longer dorsal hair provides some protection from solar radiation in summer if
the animals have to be active during hot summer days. The winter coat is longer,
but not as long and dense as that of more northern subspecies.
The hair of the summer coat of Canis lupus pallipes and Canis lupus arabs is about
30 mm. long on the back and about 10 mm. on the sides, but there is much
variation. Winter back hairs, particularly from the Mediterranean area, are 45-65
mm. long, those of the saddle 70-100 mm., and those of the sides 20-30 mm. long.
Whereas the summer coat has no wool, or only a little between the longer dorsal
hairs, the winter coat has a dense wool layer (Mendelssohn I982).
A characteristic feature of many wolves in Palestine is that the pads of the third
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 20 – December 1990