An Outline of the Zoogeography of the Levant1

• Published in: Zoologica Scripta
• Main Author: Por, Francis D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1975
• Subjects: Arctic; Pacific; Steeple
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1975.tb00713.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1463-6409.1975.tb00713.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1975.tb00713.x

Abstract Por, F. D. (Department of Zoology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.) An outline of the zoogeography of the Levant. Zool. Scr. 4 (1): 5–20, 1975.–The marine, freshwater and terrestrial distributional patterns in the region of the Eastern Mediterranean shorelands are discussed. Several historical formative events are singled out and especially the desertification of what is called the Palaeo‐eremic region. Thus a subtraction‐transition area between the Palae‐arctic and Ethiopian regions appeared. Faunal elements belonging to these three regions can be found in the area, admixed with a few Orienta species. The distributional pattern of the marine fauna is dominated by the faunal invasion from the Indo‐Westpacific region to the Mediterranean. The distribution of the freshwater animals more or less follows that of the terrestrial fauna with the important exception of the Oriental and Ethiopian fishes which took advantage of the steeplechase waterways leading from the Euphrates into the rivers of the Rift Valley. The humid tropical oasis enclaves as well as many of the freshwaters are the specific environments where most of the zoogeographically interesting species and endemics are found. These are precisely the environments which have most suffered from human interference. Summary (1) The Levant province is a meeting place and transitional area between the Palaearctic, Oriental and Ethiopian zoogeographic regions. In the marine world, its coasts are inhabited by the temperate Atlantic‐Mediterranean fauna and the tropical Indo‐Pacific fauna. (2) The broad “Palaeo‐eremic” desert belt serves as a filtering barrier between the three faunal regions. Inhabited by a peculiar fauna of mixed origin, the Palaeo‐eremic belt does not belong to any of the above‐mentioned regions. The ability to cross the desert barrier differs for the different taxa: it is maximal for mammals, birds and insects. Freshwater fish use a peculiar “steeple chase” waterway connecting the Nile with the Euphrates through ...