(hyaena hyaena)
This hyena has a beige fur with strips, a lighter abdomen and a black throat. Its declining backwards back is coated with fur that can ruffle. Its neck is covered with a little mane. Its very developed jaw allows crushing carcasses and shells. Its height at the withers is 80 cm. The hyena lives isolated or in familial groups, its diet is omnivore with carcasses...
(camelus dromedarius)
The Arabian camel is the iconic animal of Jordan. It is perfectly adapted to the desert conditions due to several particularities that other animals do not have. It has a difficult temper, pride and resentful. It possesses an exceptional memory. Its philosophical appearance is misleading: a camel can remember after more ...
(caracal caracal)
Small feline also called Persian lynx or desert lynx, it distinguish himself by its long pointed ears, black on the external side and ending by a long hair brushes. It is 45 cm high and more flexible than the Nordic lynx. Its hind legs are taller that its front legs, so that it can jump to 3 m in height. Due to its tall legs, it is extremely speedy and excellent ...
(capra nubiana)
The Nubian ibex is a desert-dwelling goat facing extinction threat. In the past we could find it in the mountainous areas over the whole Middle-East and Arabic Peninsula. Nowadays, in Jordan, few of them are preserved in the Wadi Mujib, Dana and Wadi Rum natural reserves. It is in average 65-75 cm tall at the shoulder, but males are ...
(oryx)
The Oryx is a kind of large antelope native to the Arabian Peninsula. There are several species of them, two of which (the Arabian Oryx and the Scimitar-horned Oryx are attested since the earliest Antiquity on the desert rock art. Due to over hunting, oryxes totally disappeared from the Middle Eastern desert. However, a feeding program...
(varanus griseus)
Grey or beige big lizard, with spotted strips on the side. The designs are less visible on the adults. It has a long neck, a thin head and a pointed nose. It picks up the odors with its forked tongue. Carnivore, it feeds on little lizards, insects, rodents, snails and eggs. Although locals believe it poisonous and dread it, it is totally harmless and was ...
(uromastyx aegyptia microlepis)
Species in the family Agamidae, this lizard, also called “dabb” is endemic to North Africa and Middle East and the biggest lizard in Jordan. It can measure more than 1m. It has a pine cone shaped tail with sharp scales that it uses if endangered. It digs deep and long burrows. It feeds on plants and little insects. It digs long tunnels with...
(trapelus pallidus, trapelus agnatae…)
They are several species and subspecies of desert lizards in Jordan of the Agamidae family, among them the pallid agama and the agama agnatae. The trapelus is very common over the whole country and especially in all the desert areas. It is uneasy to distinguish the subspecies, especially due to their capacity to modify their ...
several species
24 different kinds of bats are identified in Jordan, among them the Egyptian flying fox and the Rhinolophus Euryale. All are insectivore except the Egyptian flying fox which is frugivorous. Only an expert could tell us the exact species of the those bats on the opposite picture taken in a cave in Irak Al Amir. It may be a kind of pipistrelle, ...
(testudo graeca)
Living in the wadis and forests of North Jordan, this little turtle is exclusively terrestrial. It can reach 20 cm length. It has 5 large dorsal scales and 4 lateral scales on each side, plus a fringe of 10 to 11 smaller scales. Females are bigger than males but have a smaller tail. This turtle feeds on greenery, fruits and flowers. It digs a whole in the ...
(Pelophylax bedriagae)
We can find this little frog mainly in the wet wadis of West Jordan, in the Jordan Valley, but also in the Eastern Desert near stagnant waters. In Jordan it generally keeps a very small size (about 4 cm). It has a pointed snout, an elongated body with long hind legs. Its relatively smooth skin varies from green to brown depending on its environment,...
(hemorrhois ravergieri)
The ravergieri garter snake is of the Colubridae family. It can measure till 150 cm. Its back is between grey and brown with black spots, rounded on the spine and stripped on the sides. Its abdomen is light. It has a rounded typical nose and a little black round eye, topped with a dark line that come down till the jaw angle. The ravergieri is not ...
(emberiza hortulana)
Migrating passerine of the emberizidae family present throughout Eurasia, Middle- East and Africa till South of Sahara. It migrates to the Middle-East and North Africa at the fall season in order to spend the winter in temperate regions. Highly migratory, it can cross till 7000 km. Its length is 16 cm with a 24 to 27 cm span. It has an olive ...
(merops orientalis cyanophys)
Small bird with a long tail and green plumage, a black mask around the eyes and blue cheeks. The iris of the eyes is red. It has a long pointed beak, lightly hooked in order to catch all kinds of insects. It exists 8 subspecies of Oriental Bee-Eaters, with a variation of plumage hues, among them the Blue-tailed. The Oriental Bee-Eater appreciates arid areas with...
(halcyon smyrnensys)
The white-throated kingfishes is of the Alcedinidae family. It is a very common bird all throughout the Asian continent. In Jordan, we find it in wet areas as in Azrak, in the Jordan Valley and in the lateral wadis. It is a sedentary bird. It can measure till 28 cm with 43 cm span. It is easy to recognize it thanks to its splendid blue plumage ...
(carpodacus synoicus)
This granivore passerine has been chosen as the emblematic bird of Jordan, due to its pinkish color which remind the Petra stone. Beside the Middle-East, we find in North Afghanistan and in China. It leaves in the rocky areas and wadis where the vegetation is scared. It feeds on grains, shoots and sprouts. The female bears a brown plumage ...
(pycnonotus xanthopygos)
A little smaller than a turdus merula, the Arabian bulbul is a familiar bird that stays close to the dwellings, in the gardens and the orchards. We find it from Turkey to Saudi Arabia. It is sedentary. It has a black head. Its eyes are surrounded by an orbital white circle. Its body is brown-grey with a lighter abdomen, with yellow undertail...
(cinnyris osea)
The souimanga of Palestine is a small passerine of about 10cm lengh, of the Nectriniidae family. This bird is present in the Middle East and in sub-Saharan Africa. We can recognize it as well thanks its melodious chirping as thanks its plumage. Males are black with colorful reflects blue and green depending on the light. It has some orange...
(eremiaphila)
The Eremiaphila is a kind of desert mantis, a cousin of the praying mantis. It is perfectly adapted to its environment, totally merges with the colors of the ground and can be perceived only if it moves. Its long legs allow him to elevate its body in order to avoid the heat of the ground. It likes to expose at midday sun and can tolerate the ...
(scarabeus)
The Dung Beetle corresponds to the sacred scarab of the ancient Egypt. It lives mainly off the waste of mammals but may also eat decaying leaves and fruit. They are many kinds of dung beetles: some of them, the rollers, roll dung into round balls that they use as food and breeding chamber, others are called tunnelers as they just dig...
(pterois miles)
The Lion Fish is a poisonous species originate from the Indo-Pacific ocean. It is brown or reddish with beige, yellow or black strips. It is commonly called the lion fish and is often confounded with another kinds of pterois, especially the pterois volitans, which is not found in the Red Sea. It can measure till 35 cm. Its flippers unfold as feathers. Their ...
(synanceia verrucosa)
The Stone Fish is known to be the most poisonous in the world. Its bulging body is covered with excrescences that allow him to perfectly camouflage in its environment. Moreover it assumes the color of the surroundings as its skin releases a mucus that retains algae and coral decays. It has a short dorsal spine which contains an...