Eryx jaculus ( Linnaeus, 1758:228 )

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 : 240-241

Eryx jaculus ( Linnaeus, 1758:228)

1758 Anguis Jaculus Linnaeus , Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiae [Stockholm], Sweden. (4) + 823 + (I) pp.

HOLOTYPE.— NRM Lin-12 (see Comments below), considered lost by Andersson (1899) and Stimson (1969), “AEgypto” [= Egypt].

Eryx jaculus jaculus, Kramer and Schnurrenberger 1963:481 .

Eryx jaculus, Le Berre 1989:250 .

Eryx jaculus, Schleich, Kästle, and Kabisch 1996:273 .

Eryx jaculus, Sindaco, Venchi, and Grieco 2013:80 .

DISTRIBUTION.— The species as a whole is distributed across North Africa from Morocco to the Suez in Egypt. The Eurasian subspecies occurs from the Middle East to Iran and north to the Caucasus and into Europe, through Greece and the Balkans to Romania (Krecsák and Iftime, 2006; Werner 2016). Records from Cyprus are considered questionable ( Baier et al. 2009; see Sindaco et al. 2013). In Libya they are found in the Mediterranean region.

Libyan Records (Map 48): TRIPOLITA-

NIA: JAFARA: 28: Andreucci 1913. TRIPOLI: 43:

MCSN 2634. 45: ZMB 15357; Andreucci

1913; Zavattari 1934. SIRTE: 178: MCSN 2635.

“ Tripolitania settentrionale ” Zavattari 1937.

CYRENAICA: BENGHAZI: 357: Umani 1922,

1923; Zavattari 1922, 1929, 1930, 1934; Calabresi 1923. 358: MZUF 12019. 367: Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934. 379: SK

597; Kramer and Schnurrenberger 1963. MARJ:

385: Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930,

1934, 1937. JABAL AL AKHDAR: 417: Zavattari

1922, 1929, 1930, 1934; Calabresi 1923.

457bs: KNP 1981/[no specific number given];

Schleich 1987. 457c l: KNP 1981/ [no specific number given]; Schleich 1987. DARNAH: 466:

SMF 36489.

COMMENTS.— Anderson (1898) provided MAP Distribution of Eryx jaculus in Libya.

a detailed consideration of the potential type specimens present in Stockholm and argued for a specimen figured on his plate XXXA as the true type, based on its correspondence to the single specimen mentioned by Hasselquist (1757) and cited by Linnaeus (1758). It is unclear if this specimen disappeared in the short time before Andersson’s (1899) statement that the type was missing or if Andersson did not accept the specimen as the type. Two subspecies are recognized by Sindaco et al. (2013), with the nominate form occurring in North Africa and E. j. turcicus (Olivier, 1801) in Eurasia. A record from Sirte was represented with a question mark by Schleich et al. (1996) and not acknowledged by Sindaco and Jeremčenko (2008), however we have examined MCSN 2635 and its associated data and verify this record.

IUCN THREAT STATUS.— Not assessed.