First confirmed record in Melilla of Gerbillus campestris Loche, 1867 (Muridae: Gerbillinae) for Spain
- 1Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences; Masaryk University, Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Brno, Czech Republic.
Abstract
The fieldwork was carried out between December 2023 and June 2025, with the aim, among others, of confirming the possible presence of the North African Gerbil (Gerbillus campestris) in Melilla. To this end, 56 camera trap stations were installed, each equipped with a camera trap. Of the total number of camera trap stations installed, the presence of Gerbillus campestris was detected in six of them, representing a capture success rate of 10.71%. Following the detection of the species, a specimen was captured using cage traps. For identification purposes, samples of epithelial tissue from the ear and faeces were collected. These samples were sent to the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic, for analysis. There, DNA was extracted from the samples using the Innu PREP DNA Mini Kit 2.0 (IST Innuscreen GmbH, Germany) according to the manufacturer's protocol. The results obtained confirm, for the first time through records of the species, the presence of Gerbillus campestris in Melilla and, therefore, in Spain and Europe.
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BibTeX
@misc{verdu2026first,
title = {{First confirmed record in Melilla of Gerbillus campestris Loche, 1867 (Muridae: Gerbillinae) for Spain}},
author = {T. Ferrandez Verdu and F. P. Ruiz and A. F. Carrillo Lopez and M. Tapia Caro and A. Castillo Gonzalez and R. Vives Lopez and C. Amoros Box and M. Marcos Perez and Z. Boratynski and B. Pavlickova},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.30.754369},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.30.754369v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - First confirmed record in Melilla of Gerbillus campestris Loche, 1867 (Muridae: Gerbillinae) for Spain
AU - T. Ferrandez Verdu
AU - F. P. Ruiz
AU - A. F. Carrillo Lopez
AU - M. Tapia Caro
AU - A. Castillo Gonzalez
AU - R. Vives Lopez
AU - C. Amoros Box
AU - M. Marcos Perez
AU - Z. Boratynski
AU - B. Pavlickova
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.30.754369
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.30.754369v1
AB - The fieldwork was carried out between December 2023 and June 2025, with the aim, among others, of confirming the possible presence of the North African Gerbil (Gerbillus campestris) in Melilla. To this end, 56 camera trap stations were installed, each equipped with a camera trap. Of the total number of camera trap stations installed, the presence of Gerbillus campestris was detected in six of them, representing a capture success rate of 10.71%. Following the detection of the species, a specimen was captured using cage traps. For identification purposes, samples of epithelial tissue from the ear and faeces were collected. These samples were sent to the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic, for analysis. There, DNA was extracted from the samples using the Innu PREP DNA Mini Kit 2.0 (IST Innuscreen GmbH, Germany) according to the manufacturer's protocol. The results obtained confirm, for the first time through records of the species, the presence of Gerbillus campestris in Melilla and, therefore, in Spain and Europe.
ER -