BAUER, DEBOER, & TAYLOR: ATLAS OF THE REPTILES OF LIBYA 
175 
from Morocco. Ducotterd and Bour (2002) considered two of these, M. 1. saharica and M. 1. van- 
meerhaeghei, each from restricted areas of southern Morocco, to be valid. Fritz et al. (2005), how¬ 
ever, found weak genetic differentiation of populations north and south of the Atlas Mountains and 
no support for the distinction between M. 1. saharica and M. 1. vanmeerhaeghei. Subsequently, all 
of the named subspecies from southern Morocco have all been synonymized under M. 1. saharica 
(Fritz and Havas 2006, 2007; van Dijk et al. 2014), with populations from Tunisia, parts of Alge¬ 
ria, and “probably western Libya” as referable to this subspecies as well. 
Loveridge and Williams (1957) mentioned localities in “Murzuch (Murzouk) in Fezzan” and 
“Tripolitania.” Northwestern Libya was included in the distribution maps of Le Berre (1989) and 
Schleich et al. (1996), whereas northwestern Libyan localities were acknowledged, but not plotted 
by Sindaco and Jeremcenko (2008). Trape et al. (2012) did not plot the record of Busack and Ernst 
(1980), but showed a single degree square (25°N, 13°E) near Murzuq, presumably that signaled by 
Loveridge and Williams (1957). Three points were plotted by Iverson (1986, 1992), presumably 
Murzuq, Busack and Ernst’s (1980) locality in Jabal al Gharbi, and one more slightly further to the 
east. However, this last locality does not appear on World Turtle Database 
(, http://emys.geo.orst.edu/ ), which links to points on Iverson’s maps. Bour and Maran (1999) also 
plotted Ghadames as a locality for Mauremys, but provided no specimen details. There are also iso¬ 
lated records from northern Mauritania, southern Algeria and northern Niger (Loveridge and 
Williams 1957; Iverson 1986,1992), suggesting relict or translocated populations in areas with per¬ 
manent water. 
IUCN Threat Status.— Vulnerable A2ac + 3c. 
Family Testudinidae 
Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758 
Testudo graeca nabeulensis Highfield 1990:32 
1990 Furculachelys nabeulensis Highfield, Tortoises of north Africa; taxonomy, nomenclature, phyloge- 
ny and evolution with notes of field studies in Tunisia. Journal of Chelonian Herpetology 1(2): 1-56. 
Holotype.— No specimen number or collection repository stated, “the region of Nabeul, Tunisia.” 
Testudo graeca cyrenaica Pieh and Perala, 2002:8, figs. 1-5 (Fig. 9) 
2002 Testudo graeca cyrenaica Pieh and Perala, Variabilitat von Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758 im 
ostlichen Nordafrika mit Beschreibung eines neuen Taxons von der Cyrenaika (Nordostlibyen). Herpetozoa 
15(l/2):3—28. 
Holotype.— MTKD 31880, “Dema (32°46'N, 22°39'E (= Damah, Cyrenaika Ostlibyen).” 
Testudo graeca [part], Le Berre. 1989:102. 
Testudo graeca [part], Schleich, Kastle, and Kabisch 1996:148. 
Testudo graeca, Sindaco and Jeremcenko 2008:84. 
Distribution. — Testudo graeca as a whole is widely distributed across North Africa from 
southern Morocco to Cyrenaica, Libya, though with a gap in the Gulf of Sirte. In the Near and Mid¬ 
dle East it ranges from the western Negev Desert of Israel as far as Turkmenistan and eastern Iran. 
Widespread in Turkey and into the Caucusus, Balkans and Greece. Introduced populations occur 
in the Canary Islands, France, Spain (including the Balearic Islands), Malta, and Italy, including 
Sardinia and Sicily. 
Schleich et al. (1996) reported Testudo graeca from Egypt, but it does not occur there (Flower 
