RODENTS OF LIBYA 



213 



Eliomys quercinus 

 I. cyrenaicus 



2. denticulotus 



3. tunetoe 



Figure 47. — Distribution of the subspecies of Eliomys quercinus. Circles indicate specimens 

 examined; triangle indicates published record. 



from northern Tripolitania constituted the first record of occurrence 

 of dormice in Libya. 



Since that time, E. m. tunetae has been regarded as a subspecies 

 of E. lerotinus (Lataste) (Zavattari, 1934), regarded as a subspecies 

 of E. munbyanus (Ellerman, 1941), or considered as a pure synonym 

 of E. m. munbyanus (Cabrera, 1932; and Allen, 1939). Toschi (1951) 

 was in agreement with Cabrera and Allen and assigned specimens 

 from the Tripolitanian Gebel to E. m. munbyanus. Ellerman and 

 Morrison-Scott (1951) included all dormice of the genus Eliomys, 

 exclusive of Eliomys melanurus (Wagner) of Egypt and the Middle 

 East, as a single species, Eliomys quercinus, and regarded E. m. 

 tunetae as a synonym of Eliomys quercinus munbyanus. Toschi (1954) 

 and Setzer (1957), although they examined no actual specimens, 

 considered the dormice of western Tripolitania to represent E. q. 

 munbyanus. 



The systematica of the dormice of Cyrenaica have undergone less 

 confusion in the literature. Specimens from Gheminez were originally 

 described as a full species, Eliomys cyrenaicus (Festa, 1921). Later 

 E. cyrenaicus was relegated to subspecific rank under Eliomys lerotinus 



