RODENTS OF LIBYA 31 



Desert Province includes the Saharan steppe and is the larger province 

 of the two. The Tripoli tanian Gebel Province consists of the Gebel 

 Nefusa, Gebel Tigrinna, and the mountainous coastal escarpment of 

 northwestern Tripolitania. Because the rodents of the Gefara Plain 

 resemble those of the nearby gebel areas, this portion of the Tri- 

 politanian coastal plain is included in the Tripoli tanian Gebel Province. 



Twenty-four kinds of rodents occur in the Saharan Steppe Faunal 

 Area, representing 17 species and 19 subspecies. In contrast to the 

 rather large number of species restricted to the Mediterranean Faunal 

 Area, the Saharan Steppe Faunal Area has only Psammomys vexillaris 

 and Ctenodactylus gundi restricted to it. Besides these two, other species 

 of rodents occurring in this faunal area are: Gerbillus amoenus; 

 Gerbillus aureus; Gerbillus campestris; Gerbillus gerbillus; Gerbillus 

 kaiseri, Gerbillus pyramidum, Pachyuromys duprasi; Meriones caudatus; 

 Meriones crassus; Mus musculus; Acomys cahirinus; Eliomys guercin us; 

 Jaculus deserti; Jaculus jaculus; and Hystrix cristata. Of the above 

 species, Gerbillus aureus, Pachyuromys duprasi, Meriones caudatus, 

 Jaculus deserii, and Ctenodactylus gundi are most characteristic of the 

 Saharan Steppe Faunal Area. Gerbillus campestris, Gerbillus gerbillus, 

 and Jaculus jaculus are relatively common but are more abundant 

 farther south in the Saharan Faunal Area. 



The Tripolitanian Gebel Province is distinctive in having restricted 

 to it: Gerbillus aureus aureus; Gerbillus aureus nalutensis; Eliomys 

 quercinus tunetae; Jaculus jaculus tripolitanicus; and Ctenodactylus 

 gundi gundi. 



The following subspecies are either confined to the Transitional 

 Desert Province in Libya or occur only marginally in neighboring 

 faunal areas: Gerbillus campestris haymani; Gerbillus gerbillus gerbillus; 

 Gerbillus gerbillus latastei; Gerbillus pyramidum hamadensis; Meriones 

 caudatus caudatus; Meriones caudatus lurid us; Psammomys vexillaris 

 vexillaris; Jaculus jaculus whitchurchi; and Ctenodactylus gundi vali. 



Giarabub is the northernmost of the Saharan oases and has floral 

 and edaphic elements resembling those of the more southern oases of 

 Cyrenaica. For this reason and because of its geographic position on 

 the northern portion of the Libyan Desert, Giarabub Oasis would be 

 expected to have a rodent fauna related to that of the Saharan Faunal 

 Area to the south. Instead, rodents from this oasis are related more 

 closely to the rodent fauna of the Saharan Steppe Faunal Area to the 

 north. Apparently the Sand Sea of Calanscio and the Serir of Calanscio 

 have served to isolate rodent populations of Giarabub Oasis from those 

 to the south. To the north, suitable habitat, although localized, is 

 sufficiently widespread to allow for the dispersal of rodents. 



The subspecies Gerbillus gerbillus gerbillus and Gerbillus campestris 

 haymani apparently reach their westernmost distributional limits at 



