Vertebrate Zoology 62(3): 435-451, doi:
Some introduced vertebrate species to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Fares Khoury, Zuhair Amr‡, Nashat Hamidan, Ibrahim Al Hassani, Sayeeda Mir, Ehab Eid, Natalia Bolad‡ Jordan University of Science & Technology, Irbid, Jordan
Corresponding author: Fares Khoury ( avijordan2000@yahoo.com ) © Fares Khoury, Zuhair Amr, Nashat Hamidan, Ibrahim Hassani, Sayeeda Mir, Ehab Eid, Natalia Bolad. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Khoury F, Amr Z, Hamidan N, Hassani IA, Mir S, Eid E, Bolad N (2012) Some introduced vertebrate species to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Vertebrate Zoology 62(3): 435-451 |  |
Abstract
We report in this paper all the terrestrial and freshwater introduced species in Jordan. Eight species of mammals have been introduced to Jordan from other countries. One species is expanding its range of distribution (Myocastor coypus), while the others are confined to nature reserves or private farms, or released within the vicinity of nature reserves. Thirteen species of birds were introduced, either intentionally, escaped from cage or expanded their range. A total of 15 freshwater fish species were introduced into the inland of the Jordanian territories. The Common Carp, Cyprinus carpio, and Oreochromis aureus were the most introduced species from various origins. Of the introduced reptiles, the Red-eared Slider, Trachemys scripta elegans, was found in Azraq pools. The impact of invasive species on the local fauna was discussed. The native fresh water fishes were the most affected; whereas three endemic species are currently critically endangered due to introduction of invasive species into their habitats.
Keywords
Introduced species, Jordan, mammals, birds, reptiles, freshwater fishes.