256 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 275 



from northwestern Tripolitania are generally larger than the specimen 

 of C. g. vali from the Wadi Bey, the two forms being closest in the 

 length of the hind foot and ear. Except for total length, the external 

 measurements of the type specimen of C. g. vali, as given by Thomas, 

 are also significantly smaller. In Ctenodactylus gundi vali, the pelage 

 is longer, silkier, slightly paler in color, and more evenly suffused 

 with brown hairs. The venter is paler than in C. g. gundi and has 

 less suffusion of buff or tan. The pinna of the ear in C. g. vali is brown 

 on its inner surface rather than black as in C. g. gundi, has a thicker 

 covering of hair, a more prominent tuft of buffy hairs on the anterior 

 margin, and the color of the hair on its outer surface is similar to 

 that of the dorsum and not markedly contrasting in color, as in 

 C. g. gundi. 



A specimen, 122110 (sex unknown), from Gafsa, Tunisia, agrees 

 rather closely in cranial features and measurements with those of 

 C. g. gundi from Tripolitania but is noticeably wider in interorbital 

 breadth. External measurements of this Tunisian specimen are not 

 available, but judging from the relative size of the prepared skin, 

 it appears to be comparable in size to typical C. g. gundi from Libya. 

 In color, it is somewhat darker dorsally, paler ventrally, and has more 

 admixture of yellow on the dorsal surfaces of the feet. These few 

 differences are not sufficient for separation at even the subspecific 

 level, and this specimen is here referred to C. g. gundi. 



Kemarks. The five specimens from the Gebel Nefusa, 20 kilo- 

 meters east of Rumia, Tripolitania, are near topotypes of Ctenodactylus 

 gundi gundi, and in addition to the large series of gundis from 5 kilo- 

 meters west of Cussabat, Tripolitania, represent the first records of 

 this subspecies in northwestern Tripolitania since those reported 

 from the type locality (Klaptocz, 1909). 



The large series of gundis from near Cussabat probably contains 

 the greatest number of specimens (24) ever collected from a single 

 locality in Libya and in number probably exceeds all those previously 

 collected in Libya. 



While I was at Sebha Oasis in the Fezzan in 1962, an engineer 

 employed by U.S.O.M. (United States Overseas Mission) mentioned 

 having seen, earlier that year, "wild guinea pigs" in the rocky out- 

 croppings near the village of Cussabat in northern Tripolitania. His 

 description of them, although quite fragmentary and incomplete, 

 suggested characters of the gundi, particularly as guinea pigs were 

 not known to occur in Libya, at least not in the wild state. This brief 

 discussion at Sebha prompted me, later that year, to search the vicinity 

 of Cussabat and led eventually to the discovery of this large popula- 

 tion of gundis. 



