RODENTS OF LIBYA 219 



The presence of dormice in the Fezzan is inexplicable in view of 

 the present physiography and climate of Libya. The various popula- 

 tions within the Fezzan are separated from neighboring populations 

 by vast areas of unsuitable habitat, and the Fezzanese population, 

 as a whole, is geographically and physiographically isolated from 

 populations of dormice on the Tripolitanian Gebel nearer the coast. 

 These dormice of the Fezzan probably represent relicts of a former 

 period in Libya when a more humid climate prevailed and habitats 

 suitable for dormice were more widespread and thus permitted their 

 southward dispersal. 



Ecological observations. In the Fezzan, dormice seem to be 

 confined largely to the environs of the oases. At Temenhint and 

 28 kilometers east of Murzuch, young dormice were taken, along with 

 gerbils and jerboas, from areas of loose sand covered with fronds at 

 the bases of young, unpruned date palms, as well as from sandy-clay 

 soils at the bases of hardened mounds which supported sparse growths 

 of tamarix. At Goddua, an adult dormouse was trapped from the 

 midst of a group of young palms into which dunes of considerable 

 size were encroaching. The specimen from El Gatrun was obtained 

 from the edges of a large clump of tamarix located several kilometers 

 from the palm groves of the oasis. In the tamarix zone, an individual 

 clump is usually separated from others by several hundred meters of 

 barren sand alternating with hard-packed clay. It is possible that in 

 this type of habitat dormice are confined to single clumps and utilize 

 tamarix as their sole source of food. A species of dipodil (Gerbillus 

 amoenus) was the only other species of rodent obtained from these 

 outlying concentrations of tamarix. 



All specimens were obtained during the winter months when night- 

 time temperatures frequently dropped below 30° F. These low tempera- 

 tures may account for the sporadic representation of dormice in the 

 Fezzan, as they are known to hibernate during prolonged cold periods. 



The name denticulatus , from the Latin meaning small teeth, refers 

 to the diminutive size of the molariform teeth in members of this 

 subspecies. 



Eliotnys quercinus lunetae Thomas 



Eliomys lerotinus tunetae Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, vol. 2 p. 495, 

 May 1903 (Karouana, Tunis). 



Remarks. In Libya, the range of this subspecies is apparently 

 confined to the Tripolitanian Gebel. Klaptocz (1909) assigned speci- 

 mens from Gharian to Eliomys munbianus (munbyanus) tunetae, and 

 later, Toschi (1951) referred a specimen from the "Gebel tripolitano" 

 to Eliomys munbyanus munbyanus. More recently, Neithammer (1959) 

 reinstated E. m. tunetae as a subspecies of the widely ranging Eliomys 

 quercinus. 



