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PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Series 4, Volume 64, No. 8 
NHMC 80.3.164.19; Kapli et al. 2015. 5: 
BMNH 1955.1.8.50, 1965.1235-37. Zawiyah : 
11: BMNH 1965.1239. Tripoli : 36: BMNH 
1954.1.6.87-89. Nalut : 101: MCSN 2125. 
107: Sindaco pers. comm. 4/30/2008. 110: 
BMNH 1954.1.6.80. Jabal al Gharbi : 131: 
BMNH 1965.1240. 146: NHMC 80.3.119.21- 
22; Kapli et al. 2015. 154: BMNH 1965.1238. 
“Hamata desert”: BMNH 1987.2199. CYRE- 
NAICA: Benghazi : 357: BMNH 1945.11.9.10; 
MZUT R [no specific number given]. 367: 
BMNH 1985.1186. MZUT R2252. Marj : 403: 
NHMC 80.3.119.1-5, 80.3.119.8-7; Kapli et 
al. 2008, 2015. Darnah : 466: BMNH 
1954.1.6.81-86; Arnold 1986. Butnan : 522: 
NHMC 80.3.119.8. Al Wahat : 544: BMNH 
1965.1241. 552: BMNH 1965.1142. “Boltet el 
Ramla”: BMNH 1965.1243. LIBYA: BMNH 
1969.11. “Beiana” [unlocated]: MCSN 2127. “dunes south ofEttoni” [unlocated]: MZUTR3269. 
Comments. — The complicated dating of the natural history portions of Description de I’E- 
gypte has been elucidated by Sherborn (1897) and Tollitt (1986). Audouin (1827) also recognized 
a “variete” which differed in color pattern and was figured on pi. 2, fig. 2, but Boulenger (1921) 
considered this plate to depict true M. olivieri, whereas he referred the animal on plate 1, figure 11 
to Acanthodactylus scutellatus audouini and that on plate 2, figure 1 to M. guttulata. Sindaco and 
Jeremcenko (2008) recognized four subspecies: M. o. latasti, M. o. olivieri, M. o. schmidti (Haas, 
1951), and M. o. susana, although most authors recognize only M. o. schmidti and the nominate 
form. The subspecies present in Libya is traditionally regarded as M. o. olivieri. Schleich et al. 
(1996) recognized six subspecies, with the typical form in Libya. Werner (2016) considered M. o. 
schmidti to be distributed east of the Nile Valley to Arabia and Iraq. Kapli et al. (2015) found that 
M. pasteuri (widespread in North Africa, although with no confirmed records from Libya) and 
M. simoni (Morocco north of the High Atlas Mountains) were embedded within the M. olivieri 
complex. Their Libyan material was polyphyletic and was placed in several clades, one with Egypt¬ 
ian material, one with Egyptian and Israeli material, and one with Tunisian material. These results 
suggest that the traditional division between M. o. olivieri and M. o. schmidti does not reflect evo¬ 
lutionary relationships. Existing sampling does not suggest a single satisfactory taxonomic solution 
to this problem, although the data minimally suggest that the nominate form may extend from 
Tripolitania to at least Sinai and Israel. Arnold (1986) suggested that Cyrenaican specimens might 
deserve species recognition because of hemipeneal differences from typical forms, but this 
prospect has not been further explored. 
IUCN Threat Status.— Not assessed, but assumed to be Least Concern. 
Mesalina rubropunctata (Lichtenstein, 1823:100) (Fig. 25) 
1823 L[acerta]. rubropunctata Lichtenstein, Verzeichniss der Doubletten des zoologischen Museums der 
Konigl. Universitat zu Berlin nebst Beschreibung vieler bisher unbekannter Arten von Saugethieren, Vogeln, 
Amphibien und Fischen. T. Trautwein, Berlin, x + 118 pp., pi. 1. 
Syntypes.— ZMB 1113 (2 specimens) (“Nubien”), 114 (3 specimens), 1127 (“Suez”), 1115, 1116, 81374 
(formerly under ZMB 1116) (“Aegypten”). Published type locality “Aegypt et Nubia.” 
Map 33. Distribution of Mesalina olivieri in Libya. 
