Table 3.
Assemblages of soricid and murid species from well-studied ancient Egyptian archaeological sites and their relative representation in modern Egypt
| Dra Abu el-Nagaa | Thebes: Queen Mentuhotepb | Akhmimc | Tuna-el-Gebeld | Quesna | Modern Egypte | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eulipotyphla: Soricidae | ||||||
| Crocidura balsamiferaf | – | – | 3 | – | – | – |
| C. flowerig | – | – | 3 | – | 3 | 5 |
| C. fulvastrah | 1 | – | 2 | – | 9 | – |
| C. gueldenstaedtiii | – | – | – | – | 42 | 1 |
| C. olivieri | 122 | 2 | 26 | 38 | 62 | 104 |
| C. pashah | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| C. religiosa | 37 | 15 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 18 |
| Crocidura indet. | – | – | – | 25 | – | – |
| Suncus etruscus | – | – | 7 | – | – | 1j |
| Rodentia: Muridae | ||||||
| Acomys cahirinus | 5 | – | Xk | – | 1 | 275 |
| Arvicanthis niloticus | 9 | – | – | – | 11 | 130 |
| Mus musculus | – | – | – | – | 60 | 392 |
| Gerbillus sp. | – | – | – | – | 6 | X |
| Total individuals | 175 | 19 | 50 | 78 | 173 | |
| Number of species | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 9 | |
Numerals represent numbers of individuals (MNI); “X” indicates a taxon reported as present but not quantified
aWoodman and Ikram [30]
bWoodman et al. [29]; rodents were not part of this study
cHutterer [28]; rodents were not part of this study
dKessler [27]
eNumbers are numbers of specimens inspected by Osborn and Helmy [32]
fExtinct
gSpecimens from Quesna identified here as C. floweri may be C. whitakeri
hExtirpated from Egypt
iOccurs in Egypt only in the Sinai Peninsula
jBased on a specimen reported by Heim de Balsac and Lamotte [84]
kKessler [2] reported this species as present at this site