BAUER, DEBOER, & TAYLOR: ATLAS OF THE REPTILES OF LIBYA 
203 
Distribution.— From Morocco through 
northern Algeria and Tunisia to Tripolitania, 
Libya. In Libya they are found in Tripoli and 
the northwest (Sindaco and Jeremcenko 2008) 
as far east as approximately Misratah (Bshaena 
2011 ). 
Libyan Records (Map 22): TRIPOLITA¬ 
NIA: Nuoat al Khams : 10: SNHM-BS 40102- 
5, 40107-25; Bshaena 2011. Zawiyah : 18: 
SHNM-BS 39945-46, 39948, 39950, 39952- 
57, 39997; Bshaena 2011. 20: SNHM-BS 
40079-101; Bshaena 2011. Tripoli : 45: SMF 
57997. Misratah : 80: SNHM-BS 40127, 
40129; Bshaena 2011. Nalut : 129: Sindaco, 
pers. obs. 4/30/2008. “Tripolitania”: FMNH- 
82947. 
Comments.— This taxon was formerly 
treated as a subspecies of T. mauritanica until 
elevated by Joger (1984). For a description of 
recent taxonomic revisions relating to this 
genus see Joger and Bshaena (2010) and Rato 
Map 22. Distribution of Tarentola deserti in Libya. Only 
records of Tarentola deserti (sensu stricto ) are illustrated. 
Records associated with several undescribed subspecies of 
T. deserti (Bshaena 2011) are plotted as T. fascicularis Com¬ 
plex. 
et al. (2012). Harris et al. (2004) and Rato et al. (2012), the latter authors using a multilocus dataset, 
identified T. deserti as a lineage embedded within “I fascicularis' 1 '' (see following species account). 
Joger (1984) and Le Berre (1989) did not mention any specimens from Libya. Trape et al. (2006) 
plotted a single degree square in Tripolitania (32°N, 13°E) as did Schleich et al. (1996) and Sin¬ 
daco and Jeremcenko (2008). 
Joger and Bshaenia (2010) and Bshaena and Joger (2013) presented substantially identical 
phylogenetic trees based on mtDNA derived Bayesian trees. These included numerous Libyan sam¬ 
ples, including two, from Rass El Lifa and Azzawiyah, in their clade F, which also includes pre¬ 
sumably “true” T. deserti from Tunisia. On the basis of the affinities of these specimens, we tenta¬ 
tively assign the associated localities to T. deserti. Bshaena (2011), however, recognized T. deser¬ 
ti ssp. nov. from these localities in northwestern Tripolitania, suggesting that they differed slightly 
form the typical form from Tunisia and Algeria. Cyrenaican records of T. deserti cited by Bshaena 
apply to an undescribed taxon believed by him to be allied to T. deserti, but at present, this is 
included, along with other unnamed Tarentola, within the T. fascicularis Complex. [Note that the 
various spellings of the name Bshaena/Bshaenia/Bshena all refer to the same author]. 
IUCN Threat Status.— Not evaluated, but anticipated to be Least Concern. 
Tarentola fascicularis Complex (Daudin, 1802:144) (Fig. 21) 
An XI [1802] Gecko fascicularis Daudin, Histoire Naturelle, Generate et Particuliere des Reptiles, 
Ouvrage faisant Suite aux Oeuvres de Leclerc de Buffon, et Partie du Cours Complet d’Histoire Naturelle 
Redige par C.S. Sonnini, Membre de Plusieurs Societes Savantes. Quatrieme Tome. F. Dufart Paris, 397 pp, 
pis xlvi-lviii. 
Neotype: ZFMK 35631 designated by Joger (1984), “Ain Zeyanah, 20 km sudlich von Benghazi, 
Libyen ” fide Joger 1984. The original holotype specimen was studied by Lacepede and described by Daudin 
(1802) but is lost fide Joger (1984). The original type locality was “Tripoli” [Libya] by implication form the 
common name “geckotte de Tripoli” (see Co mm ents below). 
