176 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 275 



Gazala: Series of vegetated sandy-clay hummocks near the roadside, 

 many of which contained large open burrows. Most burrows were 

 littered with plant debris and remnants of seeds. This site was situated 

 on the extreme northern terminus of the coastal hamada and approxi- 

 mately five kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea. 10 km SW Fort 

 Capuzzo: A localized pocket of bushes and smaller perennials 

 surrounded by almost barren hamada. Burrows were widespread in 

 the coarse, sandy soil. 60 km S Bir el Gobi : Localized pockets of vege- 

 tation bordering the sandy margins of a small wadi in the midst of 

 an otherwise featureless and totally barren "serir." 24 km SSE 

 Giarabub: Residual sandy-clay hummocks and lesser dunes inter- 

 spersed in areas of loose sand in the bottom of a broad, enclosed 

 wadi. Bahr el Tubat: Extensive concentrations of large vegetated 

 dunes. At the latter two collecting sites, Gerbillus gerbillus, Jaculus 

 jaculus, and Gerbillus campestris were taken along with these jirds. 

 The subspecies name luridus, from the Latin meaning pale yellow 

 or yellowish, alludes to the pale-yellow tones of the dorsal pelage. 



PMM ? 



3 4 ? 



2 A ? 



Figure 38. — Statistical comparison of greatest length of skull of the subspecies of Meriones 

 caudatus: A, M. c. amplus; B, M. c. caudaius; C, M. c. confalonierii; D, M. c. luridus. 



Meriones crassus tripolius Thomas 



Meriones pallidas tripolius Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 9. vol. 3, p. 265, 

 March 1919 (Gebel Limhersuk, in the northwest part of the country). 



General distribution of species. West Pakistan, Afghanistan, 

 southern Russian Turkestan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, 

 Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt (including Sinai), Libya, Algeria, and 



