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Series 4, Volume 64, No. 8 
of morphological similarity between some congeners (Wemer and Ashkenaze 2010), which reveals 
a need for additional sampling to produce high resolution phylogenies to resolve the conflicts that 
are rampant in this complex. Kapli et al. (2015) found M. rubropunctata to be monophyletic and 
found moderate divergence between Egyptian samples and those from Libya and the Mahgreb. 
IUCN Threat Status.— Not assessed, but assumed to be Least Concern. 
Ophisops occidentalis Boulenger, 1887:75, pi. Ill, fig. 2 (Fig. 26) 
1887 Ophisops occidentalis Boulenger, Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural Histo¬ 
ry) III. Lacertidas, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidas, Anelytropsidae, Dibamidas, Chamaeleontidas. Tmstees of the 
British Museum, London, United Kingdom, xii + 575 pp., pis. I-XL. 
Syntypes.— ZBMNH 1946.9.4.18 (formerly BMNH 85.4.13.1) “Porte de Fer, Algiers” [Algeria], 
BMNH 1946.9.4.19 (formerly BMNH 85.4.13.2) “Youkous, Algeria,” BMNH (not located) “Hadedj des Mat- 
mata, Tunis” [Tunisia] and BMNH 1946.9.4.16-17 (BMNH 46.11.4.12) “Susa, Tunis” [Tunisia], 
Ophisops elegans [part], Le Berre 1989:206. 
Ophisops elegans, Schleich, Kastle, and Kabisch 1996:430 
Ophisops occidentalis, Schleich, Kastle, and Kabisch 1996:433 
Ophisops occidentalis, Sindaco and Jeremcenko 2008:266. 
Figure 26. Ophisops occidentalis from Al Khums, 5 km west of Villa Selin, Murqub, Tripolitania, Libya. Photo © 
Roberto Sindaco. 
Distribution.— Northeastern Morocco across Mediterranean North Africa to Egypt west of 
the Nile Delta (Sindaco and Jeremcenko 2008). In Egypt O. occidentalis does not extend inland 
more than 10 km from the sea (Baha El Din 2006a). In Libya they are found coastally and near 
coastally in both Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, with a gap in the region of the Gulf of Sirte. Scattered 
records in Murzuq, though anomalous, seem legitimate. 
Libyan Records (Map 35): TRIPOLITANIA: Tripoli : 45: MCSN 2406; Boulenger 1891. 
Murqub : 60: Peters 1880, 1881; Wemer 1909; Ghigi 1913; Zavattari 1934. 65: NHMC 
80.3.101.13-14. 66: Sindaco obs. 4/29/2008. 69: BMNH 1955.1.8.49. Misratah : 77: Zavattari 
1930. 80: Boulenger 1914; Zavatari 1934. Nalut : 101: BMNH 1965.1216; MCSN 2404. Jabalal 
Gharbi : 141: BMNH 1975.1211. 142: BMNH 1965.1217-20. 147: MCZ R 38698. 153: BMNH 
1954.1.6.66-67. 154: MZUT R2219; ZMB 38546; Wemer 1909; Zavatarri 1934. 155: Wemer 
1909; Ghigi 1913. “Tripolitania settentrionale”: Zavattari 1937. FEZZAN: Murzuq : 309: 
BMNH 1965.122. 310: BMNH 1965.1221. 326: BMNH 1965.1223. CYRENAICA: Benghazi : 
335: NHMC 80.3.70.410. 349: NHMC 80.3.101.15. 351: BMNH 1965.1212-13. 357: MZUF 762, 
764, 18012-14, 18000-11, 18018; Ghigi 1920; Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934. 358: 
MZUT R2221; Calabresi 1923. 367: Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930. 374: BMNH 
