NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Moroccan Jird
Meriones (Pallasiomys) grandis Cabrera, 1907
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Meriones grandis, Провенс де Тингир, Марокко, 2026-02-24 (iNaturalist).
Михаил Голомысов · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Moroccan jird (Meriones grandis) is a species of rodent from the family Muridae. The species was first described by Ángel Cabrera in 1907. It is endemic to Morocco, northern Algeria, and Tunisia. It had been included as part of Shaw's jird (Meriones shawi), but was considered in 2000 to be a separate species.
Wikipedia contributors, Moroccan jird; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:05:51.709199+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Meriones (Pallasiomys) grandis Cabrera, 1907
- Name authority
- Cabrera, 1907
- Common name
- Moroccan Jird
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Meriones
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
- subfamilyGerbillinae Gray, 1825
- genusMeriones Illiger, 1811
- subgenusPallasiomys Heptner, 1933
- speciesMeriones (Pallasiomys) grandis Cabrera, 1907
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Meriones. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Tristram's JirdMeriones (Pallasiomys) tristrami Thomas, 1892 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Buxton's JirdMeriones (Pallasiomys) sacramenti Thomas, 1922 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Libyan JirdMeriones (Pallasiomys) libycus Lichtenstein, 1823 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| King JirdMeriones (Parameriones) rex Yerbury & Thomas, 1895 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Indian Desert GerbilMeriones (Cheliones) hurrianae Jordon, 1867 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Clawed JirdMeriones (Pallasiomys) unguiculatus (Milne-Edwards, 1867) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Shaw's JirdMeriones (Pallasiomys) shawi (Duvernoy, 1842) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Vinogradov's JirdMeriones (Pallasiomys) vinogradovi Heptner, 1931 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Zarudny's JirdMeriones (Pallasiomys) zarudnyi Heptner, 1937 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cheng's JirdMeriones (Pallasiomys) chengi Wang, 1964 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=970797 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6QYXX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.