BAUER, DEBOER, & TAYLOR: ATLAS OF THE REPTILES OF LIBYA 
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ity of Libya lies within the Sahara Desert and the inland of Libya is a mosaic of sand, including 
sand seas with dunes {erg), gravel desert {reg), and stony plateaus {hamadas) and other rocky for¬ 
mations. The Calanshio Sand Sea is part of the Great Sand Desert which straddles the 
Libyan/Egyptian border. It is low lying and one of the areas of lowest rainfall in the country and 
extends across the largely uninhabited central region of Cyrenaica. The Sahra Rabyanah or Rebiana 
Sand Sea lies in the southeast comer of the country. Other major areas of sand are the Idhan 
Murzuq in south central Fezzan and the Idhan Awbari (Ubari Sand Sea) near the Algerian border. 
Libya has a mean elevation of 423 m. Its low point is Sabkhat Ghuzayyil in western Cyrenaica, at 
47 m below sea level, and its highest point is Bikku Bitti (2267 m) in the Tibesti Mountains along 
the Chadian border (Fig. 1). Other significant highland areas are the Akakus Mountains (Tadrart 
Akakus) in the southwestern comer of the country (highest point 1506 m), adjacent to the Tasili 
n’Ajjer of Algeria, and the Jabal A1 Uwaynat (1934 m) and Jabal Arkenu (1435 m) in the far south¬ 
east of the country. A1 Hamj al Aswad is a black basaltic plateau near the center of the country com¬ 
prising numerous volcanic shields as well a lines of conical volcanoes, reaching a maximum ele¬ 
vation of approximately 1200 m. Another prominent feature is the Al Hamadah al Hamra (Red 
Desert), an extensive plateau occupying much of western Tripolitania. The Jabal Nafusah (968 m) 
in northwestern Tripolitania lies at the intersection of the Jafara (Jifara) Plain and the Tripolitanian 
Plateau. Between the Hamadah al Hamra and the Hamj al Aswad lies the Jabal al Sawda (840 m), 
another distinctive volcanic region. The Jabal al Hassawinah, or Jabal Fezzan (1849 m) lies at the 
southeast comer of the Hamadah al Hamra. The most prominent feature in northern Cyrenaica is 
the limestone plateau of the Jabal al Akhdar or Green Mountain (878 m). Despite its modest height 
it receives high rainfall and forms a biogeographically distinctive mesic zone within the country. 
To the north of the Jabal Akhdar the Marj Plain extends from Benghazi to Darnah, reaching inland 
only about 50 km. South of the plateau is a belt of sparse grasslands which grade into the desert 
proper. 
Natural river systems in Libya are represented by wadis that are dry most of the time, although 
some may flood following heavy rains. Such events are relatively common in wadis flowing from 
near-coastal mountain areas, but are rare in the desert where significant rainfall events seldom 
occur. Freshwater to support the larger cities of coastal Libya and to sustain agriculture is supplied 
by the Great Man-Made River, a network of aqueducts and pipes that takes water from the Nubian 
Sandstone Aquifer System. There are about 20 permanent natural water bodies in Libya, all of 
which are brackish or saline, and most of which are in Fezzan and are associated with the major 
oases. Oases are a critical component of Libyan geography with respect to reptile distributions. 
Saharan oases typically support both taxa with both Mediterranean and sub-Saharan affinities (Le 
Berre 1989) and many taxa are regionally restricted to these mesic pockets within the desert, 
although they may be more broadly distributed in areas with less harsh conditions. This includes 
taxa like such as blind snakes, chamaeleons, and some skinks (e.g., Chalcides spp.) (Angel and 
Lhote 1938; Dekeyser and Villiers 1956; Joger and Lambert 1996; Padial 2006), and is even more 
so for more water dependent taxa including frogs, fishes, and gastropods (Pellegrin 1911, 1913, 
1931, 1934; Scortecci 1936; Esteve 1949; Leveque 1990; Trape 2016). Among the most significant 
Libyan oases are Jalu, Jufrah, Jaghbub, Murzuq, Kufrah, Gadamis and Ghat (Fig. 1). Although 
some oases are associated with fairly large human populations (e.g., Kufrah), more than 90% of the 
human populations is distributed along the Mediterranean coastline, mostly between Zawiyah and 
Misratah in Tripolitania and from Ajdabiya to Tobruq in Cyrenaica. 
Climate.— Following the Koppen climate classification (Peel et al. 2007), a warm Mediter¬ 
ranean climate, with hot summers and mild winters, prevails in coastal Cyrenaica near the Jabal al 
Akhdar and on the northern slopes of the Green Mountain itself. A kernel of temperate Mediter- 
