Document Type : Review Paper
Authors
1
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Crop Sciences, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Mazandaran, Iran
2
Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Šrobárova 2, 041 54 Košice, Slovakia
3
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Crop Sciences, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Sari, Iran
4
Department of Agronomy, Ker. C., Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, IRAN.
5
Islamic Azad University, Arak branch, Agricultural Faculty, Entomology Department, P.O. Box 38135/567, Arak, Iran.
6
betterSoil e. V., Lise-Meitner-Straße 9, D-89081, Ulm, Germany
7
Department of Environmental Biology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
8
Ria de Solía, 3, ch. 39, 39610 El Astillero, Cantabria, Spain
9
Department of Zoology and Ecology, Moscow State Pedagogical University, Kibalchich str., 6, korp. 5, Moscow 129164, Russia
10
MECADEV, UMR 7179 CNRS MNHN, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
11
Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences - Paris, IEES UMR7618, Sorbonne Université, UPEC, CNRS, IRD, INRA, 4 place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France
12
University of Wrocław, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department of Invertebrate Biology, Evolution and Conservation, Przybyszewskiego 65, 51 148 Wrocław, Poland
13
Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, Genoa University, Genoa, Italy
14
Grupo de Investigación de Biología del Suelo y de los Ecosistemas Subterráneos, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Facultad de Biología, Ciencias Ambientales y Química, Universidad de Alcalá, E–28871 – Alcalá de Henares,
15
Departamento de Botânica e Zoologia – DBEZ, Centro de Biociências – CB, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). BR 101, Lagoa Nova, Campus Universitário, 59078-900, Natal, RN, Brazil
16
Departamento de Zoología, C-1 Campus de Rabanales, University of Córdoba, 14071 – Córdoba, Spain
Abstract
A comprehensive review of the literature and database records on the five lineages of basal hexapods of Iran was conducted to summarise current knowledge of their diversity and distribution within the country. A total of 379 species are currently known from Iran, belonging to 140 genera and 27 families. Collembola are the most diverse (345 species, 119 genera, 20 families), followed by Zygentoma (21 species, 10 genera, 3 families) and Archaeognatha (6 species, 5 genera, 1 family), whereas Protura (5 species, 4 genera, 2 families) and Diplura (2 species, 1 genus, 1 family) remain clearly under-sampled. Collembola have been recorded from many regions of Iran, especially the north, whereas for the other groups few or no species are known from most provinces. Most species for which Iranian habitat data are available occur only in forest environments, particularly the Hyrcanian forests. Fifty-one Collembola species (≈14.8%) and 15 non-Collembola taxa (e.g., Protura, Archaeognatha and Zygentoma) are known only from Iran and are likely endemic, indicating that the country is a regional diversity hotspot in Western Asia. Studies on basal taxa, especially Collembola, have increased the number of recorded species from 70 to 345 over the past 43 years. Nevertheless, additional research in specific environments, particularly in eastern, central, western, and southern Iran, is still needed. This quantitative overview reveals clear geographic and taxonomic gaps that future surveys must address to refine biodiversity and conservation priorities nationwide.
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