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PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
Series 4, Volume 64, No. 8 
Distribution.— Algeria, Niger and northwestern Nigeria and east through Libya, Sudan, and 
Egypt to Sinai, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, southwestern Iran and the majority of the Ara¬ 
bian Peninsula (Sindaco and Jeremcenko 2008). In Libya records are scattered patchily across the 
country. Although subspecific boundaries are unclear, northwest Tripolitanian specimens are usu¬ 
ally allocated to S. s. cucullatus, whereas other areas of Libya harbor the nominotypical form. 
Kufrah is a special case as specimens from this areas have variously been allocated to S. s. scincus 
or S. albifasciatus (see Comments). 
Libyan Records (Map 44): TRIPOLITA- 
NIA: Zawiyah : 19: BMNH 1955.1.8.70-73; 
Arnold and Leviton 1977. Jafara : 27: Sayers 
1964. Tripoli : 39: FMNH 82969; MCZ R 
22352, R 22354; Arnold and Leviton 1977. 45: 
CAS 12751; MNHN 1976.371; MZUT R1995; 
NHMW 10386; NMP 6300-09; ZMB 15288- 
95, 15318-19, 19563; Boettger 1893; Con- 
dorelli-Francaviglia 1896; Werner 1909; Ghigi 
1913; Zavattari 1930, 1934; Arnold and Levi¬ 
ton 1977. FEZZAN: Wadi al Shatii : 210: Ess- 
ghaier et al. 2015. Ghat : 239: Scortecci 1937a. 
249: MCSN 2275, 2291-92, 2304-05, 2312, 
2510, 3033; Zavattari 1934, 1937; Scortecci 
1937a. 252: Scortecci 1937a. 253: Scortecci 
1937a. 255: Scortecci 1937a. Wadi al Hayaa : 
269: Essghaier et al. 2015. Murzuo : 303: Ess- 
ghaier et al. 2015. 306: ZCT 2006.35; Ibrahim 
2008a. 307: ZCT 2006.50-52; Ibrahim 2008a. 318: ZCT 2006.42, 2006.60; Ibrahim 2008a. 324: 
MCSN 2300. “Sahara tripolitain”: Angel and Lhote 1938. CYRENAICA: Al Wahat : 544: 
UUMZ 56615. 564: BMNH 1932.3.6.18; MCSN 2276; MCSN 2458; MSNG 31578; Peters 1880, 
1881; Werner 1909; Arnold and Leviton 1977; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934, 1937; Vinciguerra 
1931. Kufrah : 568: MZUF 00863; Scortecci 1935b, 1937. 573: Vinciguerra 1931; Zavattari 1934, 
1937; Scortecci 1935c. 575: MF 863; MSNG 31577; Vinciguerra 1931; Arnold and Leviton 1977. 
Kufrah: BMNH 1987.1026. LIBYA: MCSN 2290; MZUF 20621-22. 
Comments. — Arnold and Leviton (1977) referred to a single Linnean “type” of Lacerta scin¬ 
cus, implicitly designating this specimen as the lectotype. This action should restrict the type local¬ 
ity to that associated with the lectotype, but Linnaeus (1749) did not provide a specific locality for 
the specimen. Smid et al. (2014) listed this specimen as the holotype, however, the original descrip¬ 
tion provides indications to seven works (Gronovius, Seba, Besler, Olearius, Ray [see Bauer 2012 
for full citations], and Hasselquist (1750b, 1757) in addition to Linnaeus’ (1749) own description 
in the Amoenitates. Specific individuals described or depicted in all of these works form part of the 
original syntype series. 
Arnold and Leviton (1977), Griffiths et al. (2000) and Carranza et al. (2008) have outlined a 
number of intrageneric taxonomic problems in Scincus. Arnold and Leviton (1977), based on color 
pattern, considered material from northwest Tripolitania assignable to Scincus s. cucullatus, mate¬ 
rial from Cyrenaica to intermediates between S. s. cucullatus and S. s. scincus, and that from 
Kufrah to Scincus albifasciatus. Schleich et al. (1996) indicated that the nominotypical form 
occurred from eastern Libya eastwards, whereas S. s. cucullatus occupied western Libya, Eastern 
Algeria, and southern Tunisia. They considered Scincus s. laterimaculatus (now treated as a sub- 
Map 44. Distribution of Scincus scincus in Libya. 
