Gerbillus nanus Blanford, 1875 . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 4, 16:312.

TYPE LOCALITY: Pakistan, Gedrosia (see Lay, 1983) .

DISTRIBUTION: An extensive range from the Baluchistan region of NW India, Pakistan, S Afghanistan, and Iran through the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and North Africa to Morocco.

SYNONYMS: arabium, Hilda, indus, lixa, mimulus, setonbrownei.

COMMENTS: Regional reviews of the species provided by Lay and Nadler (1975), Harrison and Bates (1991), Osborn and Helmy (1980), Ranck (1968), and Kowalski and RzebikKowalska (1991). Lay (1983) remarked that G. nanus and G. amoenus share several morphological and chromosomal traits and that the nature of their relationship should be explored by careful revision. Cranial morphology of Qatarian G. nanus and G. cheesmani contrasted by Madkour (1984).