Taxon name
Meriones crassus
Sundevall, 1842
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Meriones crassus
Sundevall, 1842
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Mammals
Species authority
Sundevall, 1842
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
United Arab Emirates (the)
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
United Arab Emirates (the)
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Data deficient
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
Assessed as Data Deficient because of uncertainty over the current status, possibly due in part to confusion with other species. While the species is relatively common in Sharjah and there are recent records from Dubai, there have been no records in the last 10 years from Abu Dhabi which comprises most of this species' range in UAE. No regional adjustment is made to the Data Deficient assessment.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
URL (link) of redlist assessment or publication
https://www.moccae.gov.ae/assets/download/b352eff1/UNRL%20of%20Mammals%20-%20Report%202019.pdf.aspx?view=true
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Endemic to region
Not assigned
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
There are records from Al Ain, Baynoonah and Umm al Zummoul in Abu Dhabi, the Aweer area of Dubai and further north into the Al Madam Plain (Aspinall et al. 2005, Drew and Tourenq 2005). There is a record from Jebel Ali (airport site) on the UAE birding website and it is known from the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (G. Simkins pers. comm. 2018) and probably at Al Marmoom; and also at Dulaima and Bridi in Sharjah (K. Budd pers. comm. 2018). However, there are no records in the last ten years from protected areas in Abu Dhabi and there may be some confusion in the identification of this species and Meriones arimalius. The conformed distribution is patchy and the species may occur more widely in desert areas. There are no records from the mountains. The global range extends across North Africa, south to Sudan, then east to Turkey, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East and western Pakistan (Granjon 2016a). It is widespread in the Arabian Peninsula (Harrison and Bates 1991).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
Makes colonies in and around vegetated hummocks (Aspinall et al. 2005).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Overgrazing, especially by camels, has caused extensive habitat degradation outside protected areas. An increase in numbers of feral cats and an increase in Red Fox range and numbers may also be having an impact on small mammals.
History
Whilst Hornby (1996) listed this species as Least Concern, give the paucity of records from Abu Dhabi in the past ten years, the backcasted 1996 assessment for this species is changed to Data Deficient.
Publication
Mallon, D., Hilton-Taylor, C., Allen, D., & Harding, K. (2019). UAE National Red List of Mammals: Marine and Terrestrial. A report to the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates (p. 41). IUCN Global Species Programme. https://bit.ly/2RdZCQR
