BAUER, DEBOER, & TAYLOR: ATLAS OF THE REPTILES OF LIBYA 
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MSNG 28438. Al Wahat : 529: MCSN 2122; MSNG 31576*; Vinciguerra 1931; Zavattari 1934. 
544: MSNG 31576*. 554: NMBA-REPT 15241-42. Kufrah : 572: Vinciguerra 1931. 573: Vin¬ 
ciguerra 1931; Zavattari 1934, 1937. 575: MSNG 31576*; Vinciguerra 1931. 584: Zavattari 1937. 
587: Scortecci 1935c. “Cyrenaica”: MSNG 52498. Ghigi 1920. “Altopiano di Cyrenaica”: Ghigi 
1920; Zavattari 1934. “Marmarica”: Zavattari 1937. 
Comments.— Joger and Mayer (2002) emphasized the uncertainty regarding the relative rela¬ 
tionships between many Mesalina species. Kapli et al. (2008) initially suggested that M. guttulata 
was a complex of several species. Kapli et al. (2008, 2015) found that M. guttulata was para- 
phyletic with respect to M. bahaeldini, with the more inclusive clade containing the latter (type 
locality in south Sinai), including Jordanian material. They recovered three main clades, a 
M. bahaeldini clade (suggesting that M. guttulata in Israel and Jordan should be reallocated to this 
species), a typical M. guttulata clade with samples from Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Moroc¬ 
co, and an Arabian clade, with samples from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Kuwait. This implies that 
true guttulata occurs exclusively in North Africa, west of the Suez Canal. Nonetheless, there are 
some morphological and especially color pattern differences between typical M. bahaeldini from 
south Sinai and M. guttulata from Israel and Jordan (Segoli et al. 2002; Werner and Ashkenazi 
2010; Werner 2016) and the possibility remains that true M. guttulata may co-occur with 
M. bahaeldini in north Sinai and in Israel, which were not sampled by Kapli et al. (2015), or that 
members of the M. bahaeldini clade from outside south Sinai retain the plesiomorphic M. guttula¬ 
ta morphotype and should be considered as a species distinct from either M. guttulata sensu stric- 
to or M. bahaeldini. Sindaco and Jeremcenko (2008) plotted no localities in Fezzan or the Kufrah 
region of southern Cyrenaica. The identities of the specimens vouchering these localities need to 
be confirmed, although the occurrence of M. guttulata nearby in neighboring countries suggests 
that it should occur in suitable areas in southern Libya. 
IUCN Threat Status.— Not assessed, but assumed to be Least Concern. 
Mesalina olivieri (Audouin, 1827:175, supplement pi. 1, fig. 11, pi. 2, figs. 1-2) 
1827 Lacerta Olivieri Audouin, Explication sommaire des planches de reptiles (supplement), publiees 
par Jules-Cesar Savigny, Membre de l’Institut; offrant un expose des caracteres naturels des genres, avec la 
distinction des especes. Pp. 161-184 In: M. J.-C. L. de Savigny, (ed.), Description de l’Egypte, ou Recueil des 
Observations et des Recherches qui ont ete Faites en Egypte Pendant l’Expedition de l’Armee Frangaise. His- 
toire Naturelle. Tome premier. Partie premier. Imprimerie Imperiale, Paris. 
Syntypes. — Specimens figured by Audouin (1827) on pi. 1, fig. 11 and pi. 2, figs. 1-2 of Description 
de VEgypte, “Egypte.” According to Brygoo (1988) no surviving specimens can be associated with these illus¬ 
trations, so the types must be considered lost. 
Mesalina olivieri , Schleich, Kastle, and Kabisch 1996:420. 
Mesalina olivieri , Sindaco and Jeremcenko 2008:263. 
Mesalina olivieri , Trape, Trape, and Chirio 2012:330. 
Distribution.— Western Sahara across Morocco, northern Algeria and Tunisia to far north¬ 
western Tripolitania and from Cyrenaica across northern Egypt, Sinai, Israel, Jordan and southern 
Syria (southern Iraq according to Yousefkhani et al. 2015). Isolated localities in Senegal, southern 
Algeria, the Upper Nile Valley of Egypt and northcentral Saudi Arabia. (Sindaco and Jeremcenko 
2008). There remains a large gap in the species distribution across northern Libya between the 
region of Al Khums and the eastern side of the Gulf of Sirte. Le Berre (1989) did not include the 
species in the Libyan fauna. 
Libyan Records (Map 33): TRIPOLITANIA: Nuoat al Khams : 2: BMNH 1955.1.8.51. 3: 
