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African Journal of Environmental Economics and Management ISSN 2375-0707 Vol. 10 (2), pp. 001-003, 
February, 2022. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals 

 

Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. 

 

 

Short Communication 

 

New report from presence and distribution of 

Allactaga firouzi in Iran 
 

Saeed Mohammadi1* and Gholamreza Naderi2 
 

1
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Energy and Environment, Sciences and Research Branch, Islamic 

Azad University, Tehran, Iran. 
2
Department of Environment, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil Branch, Iran. 

 
Accepted 29 October, 2021 

 
The Iranian jerboa Allactaga firouzi (Womochel, 1978) is one of the rarest rodent species in the world 
and it has been reported exclusively from a single site in central Iran. Due to the lack of enough 

information on the ecology of this species, its conservation status was changed to “Data Deficient” 
category in late 2008. No additional data on A. firouzi was published since its first description by 

Womochel. Here we report the results of recent intensive survey work in south of Shah-Reza city that 
yielded several new localities for this species. New localities of A. firouzi were identified. 

 
Key words: Allactaga firouzi, Iran, Shah-Reza, data deficient. 

 
INTRODUCTION 

 
Iran is located in the Palearctic realm and is considered 
the center of origin for many of the world’s genetic 
resources. Although, the country’s natural resources have 
been carelessly exploited over the past, environ-mental 
deterioration has increased markedly in the past few 
decades (Fisher, 1968). Little information about the 
current distribution of the Iranian jerboa Allactaga firouzi 
has been available and published since the first initial 
survey by D. R. Womochel (1978). The Iranian jerboa is 
one of the 13 species of Allactaga genus the subfamily 
Allactaginae. This species as an endemic Iranian 

mammal recorded for the first time south of Shah-Reza in 
Isfahan Province. The IUCN/SSC classifies the species 
as ‘data deficient’ (IUCN, 2009). This species is active 
from 11:00 pm to 5:30 am in early spring to late summer 
but in midsummer, its activity times are restricted to 9:00 
pm to 4:00 am (Naderi et al., 2009). The first collections 
of Iranian jerboas were made by the W. S. and J. K. 
Street expedition to Iran in 1968 (Womochel, 1978) . No 
additional data on A. firouzi was published since first 
description. He pointed out populations populations 
 
 

 
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mohammadi7517@yahoo.com.  
Tel: +989155427517. 

 
 
 
 

 
restricted to a village 18 miles south of Shah-Reza. We 
found specimens after three-decade collection gap near 
the Mirabad village in 22 km Shah-Reza to Abadeh 
highway (31° 56’ 02’’ N, 52° 02’ 05’’E; 2198 m) (Figure 1). 
Current knowledge of the distribution of A. firouzi shows 
that, the species inhabits unique habitats in Iran (Figure 
2). We report the results of a recent intensive survey 
south of Shah-Reza that yielded several new localities for 
the species. 

 
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES 

 
Field surveys were done in typical habitat of semi-arid grazed 
steppe (surface covered by bare soil and/or scarce shrub and grass 
vegetation) from April 2008 to May 2009. The weather is markedly 
seasonal with a dry season between May and September (<10% of 
the annual precipitation). Vegetation types comprise different 
shrubs such as Anabasis aphylla, Artemisia siberi, Peganum 
harmalla and Scariolla orientalis. The area is used as grazing 
grounds for domesticated sheep and goats. According to the 
available information Naderi et al. (2009) reported that A. firouzi had 
been recorded in a grassland habitat in the Mirabad plains. For 
recognition of the species we used a spotlight and characteristic 
features of A. firouzi that mentioned by Womochel (1978). Because 
jerboa is not trappable in live-traps so we caught them with a hand 
net, using a searchlight and motorcycle. A 30 cm diameter hand net 
was used for catching. 



2 

 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Figure 1. Geographic distribution of A. firouzi in Iran.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Figure 2. Iranian  jerboa  (Mammalia:  Dipodidae).  Photo  by: 
Saeed Mohammadi. 

 

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

 

Totally 24 individuals were captured and then released in 
65 nights of trapping. The first site is located within the 
Veshare plains at 2054 m elevation 31°43’’ N, 52° 02’’ E. 
6 species were found in a desert with semi-open canopy 
next to village. The surface was flat. Second locality was 
at 31° 44’’ N, 52° 08’’ E, in a degraded area close to the 
Shah-Reza to Abadeh highway. The vegetation at this 
site was made up by A. aphylla and A. aucheri. The area 

is flat and probably permanently dry. Also Brown (1980) 
reported that Hotson’s jerboa A. hotsoni was caught in 
more barren areas. He showed a negative correlation 
between vegetation cover and A. hotsoni occurrence in 

 
 

 

Kavir National Park. Soil texture and altitude were found 
to be the main factors affecting the distribution of this 
species (Naderi et al., 2009) . Other collecting sites were 
located near Abadeh city in Fars Province at 31°29’’ N, 
52° 15’’ E. Hassinger (1973) found A. hotsoni below 1000 
m, whereas Euphrate jerboa A. euphratica occurred 
between 1800 and 3200 m in Afghanistan. Womochel 
(1978) also reported A. hotsoni below 1000 m in clay-
loess deserts with sparse, clumped vegetation, but small 
five-toed jerboa A. elater lives in salty semiarid areas with 
various kinds of halophytes. Based on our data we 
support the ‘red list‘ category of endangered for A. firouzi 
based on criteria (IUCN, 2009) mainly because of its 
small area of occupancy, its severely fragmented 



3 

 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Figure 3. Iranian jerboa killed in road incident. Photo by: Saeed Mohammadi. 
 
 

 

distribution, and the decline of its habitat in east Mirabad 
plains that it is necessary to organize continuous 
monitoring of the Iranian jerboa population. We found 3 
jerboas were to be killed in road accidents (Figure 3). The 
Iranian jerboa has been reported exclusively from a 
single site and is therefore one of the rarest rodent 
species in the world. Our data highlight the importance of 
flat area from South of Shah-Reza in Isfahan Province to 
Abadeh in Fars Province, which may harbor a larger 
species diversity than is currently known, including 
regional endemics such as the Iranian jerboa. 
 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
Authors would like to express gratitude to M. Mostafavi 

and late Dr. M. Tarahomi for helping to field activities. 

 
 
 

 
REFERENCES 
 
Brown RE (1980). Rodents of the Kavir National Park, Iran. Mammalia, 

44: 89-96. 
Fisher WB (1968). The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 1. Cambridge 

University Press. Hassinger JD (1973). A survey of the mammals of 
Afghanistan resulting from the 1965 street expedition (excluding 
bats). Fieldiana Zool., 60: 1-195.  

IUCN (2009). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009. 2. 
www. Iucnredlist.org. 
Naderi GH, Hemami MR, Riazii B, Alesheikh AA (2009). Notes on 

ecological peculiarities of Iranian jerboa, Allactaga firouzi Womochel, 
1978 (Mammalia: Dipodidae). Zool. Middle East, 47: 21-28. 

Womochel DR (1978): A new species of Allactaga (Rodentia:  
Dipodidae) from Iran. Fieldiana Zool., 72(5): 65–73. 


