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Z mauritanica, to which the name T. fascicularis is applicable, were genetically distinct from the 
remainder of T. mauritanica and subsequently (Harris et al. 2009) that insular Tarentola from 
Lampedusa and Congli were assignable to T. [m.]fascicularis. They also showed that T. fascicu¬ 
laris is paraphyletic with respect to Z deserti. Tarentola fascicularis was considered a subspecies 
by many, including Sindaco and Jeremcenko (2008), until elevated to species level by Joger and 
Bshaena (2010). Sarra et al. (2013) provided morphometric and karyotypic data supporting the dis¬ 
tinctiveness of T. fascicularis from T. mauritanica. 
Rato et al. (2012), using a multilocus dataset, confirmed the reciprocal monophyly of the Tar¬ 
entola fascicularis complex (including T. deserti, T. neglecta and T. mindiae ) and the T. mauritan¬ 
ica complex. They also identified a great deal of substructure within T. fascicularis sensu lato and 
confirmed that T. deserti is a lineage embedded within “Z fascicularis .” Libyan populations of 
“Z fascicularis ” they sampled were grouped into three mitochondrial groups, two of which were 
sister to one another and account for the majority of their samples from coastal Cyrenaica, north¬ 
western Egypt and the Tunisian/Libyan border area (their clades XI and XII); the third clade was 
represented by material from western Libya and the Libyan/Egyptian border area, as well as by 
material from the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Conigli (their clade VIII). Clade XI included 
the region in which the type locality of T. fascicularis is located and so unambiguously represents 
true fascicularis, should further taxonomic subdivision of the group take place. Rato et al. (2012) 
suggested that some clades within the T. fascicularis complex might deserve specific status, but 
took no action to name or elevate unnamed clades. Rato et al. (2016) subsequently provided molec¬ 
ular evidence to suggest that populations remaining in T. fascicularis represented additional unde¬ 
scribed taxa and Joger and Bshaenia (2010) explicitly stated that there were undescribed species 
within Libya. Tarentola fascicularis wolfgangi Joger and Bshaenia, 2010 (incorrectly referred to as 
T. f boehmei in Bshaena and Joger 2013), a Tunisian endemic, is a member of Rato et al.’s (2012) 
clade IX and is deeply embedded within the T. fascicularis complex. Joger and Bshaenia (2010) 
and Bshaena and Joger (2013) presented substantially similar phylogenetic trees based on mtDNA, 
including many Libyan samples. In the earlier paper they recommended that their clades C, D, E, 
G, and H be considered as members of a single (unnamed) species, while they later included only 
D (“Z. sp. Ajdabiya” and “Z. sp. Ras Lanuf “), E (Z / wolfgangi), G (Z. sp. Sabha”), and 
H (“Z. sp. NW Libya”) in this complex and recommended that they be considered as subspecies of 
Z fascicularis. Clade C, which included specimens from Um Arrizam and Sidi Massod, Libya, also 
included a specimen from Egypt and were taken to be “typical” Z fascicularis. This is because 
Bshaena (2011) considered Tobruk to be the terra typica, although Joger (1984) had earlier desig¬ 
nated a neotype from Benghazi. Neither of these populations is likely conspecific with Daudin’s 
lost Tripolitanian holotype. According to Bshaena (2011), Z fascicularis sensu stricto occurs in 
Northeastern Cyrenaica up to 180 km from the Mediterranean coast. 
Except for the endemic Tunisian Z fascicularis wolfgangi Joger and Bshaenia, 2010 and 
Z neglecta lanzai Bshaena and Joger, 2013 (which see below), none of the other clades in the 
Z fascicularis Complex have yet been named, although Bshaena (2011) provided diagnoses and 
descriptions in his unpublished and nomenclaturally unavailable doctoral dissertation. Because 
there are no names for these other Libyan clades, and because the taxonomy of Tarentola, espe¬ 
cially the Z fascicularis complex, remains in a state of flux, we have chosen to include specimens 
of Libyan Tarentola not assignable to another named congener within this single account for the Z 
fascicularis Complex. In addition to the Z fascicularis forms signaled by Bshaena (2011), records 
listed may also include specimens referable to recognized or undescribed taxa of Z deserti sensu 
lato or Z neglecta sensu lato that have previously been referred to Z mauritanica, as well as any 
true Z mauritanica which might be represented by introduced populations in coastal urban centers. 
