RODENTS OF LIBYA 131 



covered by fallen fronds at the bases of date palms. At Goddua this 

 species was taken from the loose sand of the palm groves and the 

 sandy-clay soils of other agricultural areas within the oasis. The 

 specimens from the Gebel el Harug el Asued were collected from rather 

 impervious clay soils in a badly eroded large wadi. At other localities 

 in Libya these gerbils were obtained in habitats ranging from the 

 dense plant cover of the coastal plain to almost barren hamadas. 

 They seem to prefer areas of loose sand or substrates of a sandy char- 

 acter; only rarely are they found in large, permanent dune areas. 



The collection of specimens of this species was fortuitous, and 

 their presence in a given area could never be predicted with certainty. 

 Adequate series were obtained only after several days of continuous 

 trapping. 



In many areas in Libya, members of this species occur sympatrically 

 with those of other species of gerbils, but they are almost always less 

 abundant. 



Gerbillus campestris Levaillant 



Gerbillus campestris Levaillant, Atlas Expl. Sci. Alg. Mamm. pi. V, fig. 2., 1857 

 (Philippeville, Province of Constantine, Algeria [Lataste, 1881]). 



General distribution of species. Western and coastal Egypt; 

 Libya, Algeria, Morocco; range probably also includes northern por- 

 tions of Sudan, Chad, Niger, and Mauritania. 



Distribution in Libya. Widespread throughout Cyrenaica, Trip- 

 olitania, and the Fezzan (currently unknown from Gialo Oasis). 



Distribution of the subspecies in Libya. 



Gerbillus campestris brunnescens. Cyrenaica: Cyrenaican Plateau 

 and adjacent Mediterranean littoral. 



Gerbillus campestris dodsoni. Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and the 

 Fezzan: Widespread throughout Tripolitania and the Fezzan, but in 

 Cyrenaica is limited to the southern oases of Tazerbo and Bzema. 



Gerbillus campestris haymani. Cyrenaica: Vicinity of Giarabub 

 and Bahr el Tubat. 



Gerbillus campestris patrizii. Cyrenaica: El Hauuari and El Giof 

 of Cufra Oasis. 



Gerbillus campestris wassifi. Cyrenaica: Coastal plain of extreme 

 northeastern Cyrenaica. 



Published records in Libya. Cyrenaica: Giarabub (de Beaux, 

 1928); El Giof (de Beaux, 1932); Tripolitania: Wadi Agarib, Ain 

 Hammam, Wadi Nefed, Sirte, Tamari-Ferdjan (Thomas, 1902); 

 FEzzAn: Goddua, Umm el Abid (Thomas, 1902). 



Comparisons. Gerbillus campestris can be distinguished readily 

 from the other dipodils in Libya by its much larger size, longer 

 anterior palatine foramina, and markedly smaller and less inflated 

 auditory bullae. 



