Philochortus zolii Scortecci, 1934

Bauer, Aaron M., DeBoer, Jonathan C. & Taylor, Dylan J., 2017, Atlas of the Reptiles of Libya, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 64 (8), pp. 155-318 : 226

Philochortus zolii Scortecci, 1934

1934 Philochortus zolii Scortecci, Descrizione preliminare di una nuova specie del genere Philochortus ( Philochortus zolii ) della zona di Gat (Missione della reale Societa Geografica). Atti della Societa italiano di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storio Naturale di Milano, 73:305–308.

HOLOTYPE.— MCSN specimen number not known, destroyed in World War II (?), “oasi di Elbarkat, a pochi chilometri a sud di gat” [ Oasis of El Barkat , a few kilometers south of Ghat].

Philochortus zolii, Le Berre 1989:212 .

Philochortus zolii, Schleich, Kästle, and Kabisch 1996:435 .

Philochortus zolii, Sindaco and Jeremčenko 2008:267 .

Philochortus zolii, Trape, Trape, and Chirio 2012:336 .

DISTRIBUTION.— Scattered localities in

Libya (Ghat and 35 miles west of Ajdabiya),

Egypt (Wadi El Natrun; Kamal et al. 1966;

Marx 1968; Baha El Din 2006a), Niger (In

Abezou) and Mali (Bourem) ( Trape et al.

2012).

Libyan Records (Map 36): FEZZAN:

GHAT: 254: Scortecci 1934a, 1937b; Zavattari

1937. “Sahara tripolitain”: Angel and Lhote

1938. CYRENAICA: AL WAHAT: 534: MCZ

46850; Marx 1968.

COMMENTS.— Trape et al. (2012) synonymized P. zolii and P. ihotei Angel, 1936 , the latter originally described from Niger. This species has a huge distribution with known localities stretching from the Sahel through

Saharan oases to the edge of the Nile Delta.

IUCN THREAT STATUS.— Endangered MAP 36. Distribution of Philochortis zolii in Libya.

B2ab(ii, iii) fide Wagner et al. (2013), downgraded from its 2006 assessment as Critically Endangered.