Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 91, July 2009, pp. 1-31. | Page 15

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Animals Unique to Palestine:
Mammals found only in this region include four chromosomal species of the Palestine
blind mole rat (Spalax ehrenbergi) and the Naqab or Negev Shrew (Crocidura ramona).
Other unique Palestinian species include the newly discovered Palestine Golden Jackal
(Canis aureus palaestina Khalaf, 2008), the Gaza or Palestine House Mouse (Mus musculus
gazaensis Khalaf, 2007), the Palestine Sunbird (Cinnyris oseus) and the Palestine or
Yellow-vented or White-eyed Bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygos). The Be‟er Al-Sabae‟
(Be'er Sheva) Fringe-fingered Lizard Acanthodactylus beershebensis is a critically
endangered endemic reptile. Endemic amphibians include the recently discovered
Jerusalem or Judean Hills tree frog Hyla heinzsteinitzi and the extinct Palestinian or Hula
Painted Frog Discoglossus nigriventer, last collected in 1955.
Freshwater fish species unique to the area include the Tiberias or Kinneret
Bleak Acanthobrama terraesanctae, the Al-Auja (Yarqon) or Tel Aviv Bleak Acanthobrama
telavivensis, the extinct Hula bleak Acanthobrama hulensis, and the possibly extinct Longjaw Tristram Tilapia Tristramella sacra. The Ben-Tuvia‟s Goby Didogobius bentuvii is
apparently known only from the type collected in the Mediterranean off the mouth of
the Rubin River.

The Jaffa Marine Amphipod (Ampelisca jaffaensis) from Jaffa, Palestine.
www.geocities.com/jaffacity/Jaffa_Amphipod.html

Gazelle – Number 91 – July 2009