Trapelus mutabilis poppeki Wagner, Melville, Wilms and Schmitz 2011:896

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 : 182-185

Trapelus mutabilis poppeki Wagner, Melville, Wilms and Schmitz 2011:896 , fig. 7

2011 Trapelus mutabilis poppeki Wagner, Melville, Wilms and Schmitz, Opening a box of cryptic taxa – the first review of the North African desert lizards in the Trapelus mutabilis Merrem, 1820 complex ( Squamata : Agamidae ) with descriptions of new taxa. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 163:884–912.

HOLOTYPE.— ZFMK 63678, “ Libya: east of Tarbu , 24.48.27N, 16.19.11E, 490m a.s.l. ”

Agama mutabilis [part], Le Berre 1989:116.

Trapelus mutabilis [part], Schleich, Kästle and Kabisch 1996:291

Trapelus mutabilis [part], Sindaco and Jeremčenko 2008:162.

Complexe Trapelus mutabilis, Trape, Trape, and Chirio 2012:162 .

DISTRIBUTION.— Following the taxonomic conclusions of Wagner et al. (2011), this species as a whole occurs from Algeria east through Libya to the Nile (T. m. mutabilis ), and eastwards to Iraq, Kuwait and the western shore of the Persian Gulf (T. m. pallidus). Trapelus m. poppeki is known only with certainty from two disjunct localities in western Libya.

Libyan Records (Map 9): ( Trapelus mutabilis mutabilis ): TRIPOLITANIA: ZAWIYAH: 11: BMNH 1965.1186–87. 22: MCSN 3029. JAFARA: 28: Andreucci 1913. TRIPOLI: 36: BMNH 1954.1.5. 63–65. 39: FMNH 82950. 44: SMNS 438. 45: MCSN 4231; MZUT R313; ZMB 15276– 80, 15296, 15316–17, 54582, 54585–86, 54591–97; Condorelli-Francaviglia 1896; Werner 1909; Andreucci 1913; Ghigi 1913; Zavattari 1934. 46: Sayers 1964. MURQUB: 68: Peters 1880, 1881. MISRATAH: 80: MSNG 52507; Boulenger 1914; Zavattari 1934. 88: RMNH RENA 13915. NALUT: 101: Sindaco, pers. obs. 4/30/2008. 103: Sindaco, pers. obs. 4/30/2008. 104: BMNH 1965.1183. 105: AIC no number provided; MNHN 2004.0085; Ibrahim and Ineich 2005. 109: BMNH 1965.1185. 113: Sindaco, pers. obs. 5/2/2008. 114: BMNH 1954.1.5. 66. 116: Sindaco, pers. obs. 5/2/2008. 130: Sindaco, pers. obs. 4/1/2008. JABAL AL GHARBI: 137: ZSM 116/1994/1, 116/1994/2. 140: BMNH 1965.1184. 143: NHMC 80.3.90.20. 154: MCSN 4230; MZUT R336; Andreucci 1913; Zavattari 1934. 160: BMNH 1954.1.5. 67. 163: Brito et al. 2008. SIRTE: 174: MCSN 1947; Peters 1880, 1881. 175: ZMB 37010, 54429–30. 199: MCSN 1832; MCSN 4229. “ Tripolitania settentrionale ”: Zavattari 1937. “ Ras Wagis ”: BMNH 1901.10.28. 4. FEZZAN: JUFRA: 213: BMNH 1954.1.5. 69. 216: MCSN 1950. 218: MCSN 1778. 226: MCSN 1780, 4226; Scortecci 1935b. 228: BMNH 1954.1.5. 68. GHAT: 234: Essghaier et al. 2015. 252: MCSN 1843. 253: MCSN 1839. WADI AL HAYAA: 269: Essghaier et al. 2015. SABHA: 286: BMNH 1954.1.5. 72. 291: NMBA-REPT 15306–09, 15395. MURZUQ: 298: SMF

30275. 303: Zavattari 1937. 331: MCSN 1781;

Scortecci 1935b. “ Fezzan ”: MCSN 1831,

1848; MNHN 1966.1101; NHMW 24732.

“ nella valletta che conduce alla ghelta di

Uantekèli ”: MCSN 2570; Scortecci 1937a.

CYRENAICA: BENGHAZI: 344: BMNH

1954.1.5. 73; Zavattari 1922, 1929, 1930, 1934;

Calabresi 1923. 348: Zavattari 1922, 1929,

1930, 1934; Calabresi 1923. 350: BMNH

1954.1.5. 74. 354: BMNH 1955.1.1. 43–45.

357: BMNH 1945.11.9. 6; MZUF 662 , 2772 ,

4750; SMF 34455; UMNH 4241; von Martens

1883; Werner 1909; Andreucci 1913; Ghigi

1913, 1920; Calabresi 1923; Vinciguerra 1927;

Gestro and Vinciguerra 1931; Zavattari 1922,

1929, 1930, 1934. 361: Ghigi 1920. 364: Cornalia in Haimann 1882, 1886; Zavattari 1934. MAP 9. Distribution of Trapelus mutabilis in Libya. White dots represent the nominotypical form, black dots are 367: MZUF 843; MZUT R303; NHMC T. m. poppeki.

80.3.90.22–23; Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929,

1930. 376: MCSN 2440; Zavattari 1922, 1929, 1930, 1934; Calabresi 1923; Scortecci 1935b. MARJ: 384: MCZ R 4454. 385: MCSN 1823; MZUT R342; Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934, 1937. 389: MZUT R300; Ghigi 1920; Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934. 403: NHMC 80.3.90.1–9. 404: MZUF 723. 457q: Schleich 1987. JABAL AL AKHDAR: 410: FMNH 82949, 214945; Resetar 1981. 417: Ghigi 1920; Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1922, 1929, 1930, 1934. 421: Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934. 448: SMF 55850–51, 69347. 451: Schleich 1987. 452: Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930. 454: Schleich 1987. 457: KNP 1981/330, 358, 1983/519; Schleich 1987. 457c: Schleich 1987. 457f: Schleich 1987. 457g: Schleich 1987. 457h: Schleich 1987. 457i: Schleich 1987. 457k: Schleich 1987. 457m: Schleich 1987. 457n: Schleich 1987. DARNAH: 462: Schleich 1987. 466: BMNH 1954.1.5. 75; MZUT R332; NHMW 24874; Werner 1909; Andreucci 1913; Ghigi 1913; Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934. 474: Vinciguerra 1927; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934; Gestro and Vinciguerra 1931. 480: ZSM 141/1983; Schleich 1987. 482: Schleich 1987. 484: MZUT R304; Calabresi 1923; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934. BUTNAN: 490: MSNG 27770. 497: USNM 146805. 505: Vinciguerra 1927; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934; Gestro and Vinciguerra 1931. 509: Vinciguerra 1927; Zavattari 1934. 514: Vinciguerra 1927; Zavattari 1929, 1930. 516: USNM 146793. 520: Zavattari 1929, 1930. 521: Vinciguerra 1927; Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934; Gestro and Vinciguerra 1931. AL WAHAT: 529: MNHN 1966.1098–1100. 530: Peters 1880, 1881; Werner 1909; Zavattari 1930, 1934. 525: BMNH 1965.1190. 559: MCSN 1783–84, 1838; Scortecci 1935b. 533: Schleich 1987. 540: BMNH 1965.1181–82; ZSM 139/1983, 142/1983; Schleich 1987. 538: NMBA-REPT 15305. 544: SMF 69050; Zavattari 1929, 1934; Vinciguerra 1931. 551: SMF 55852–4. 553: ZSM 140/1983; Zavattari 1937; Schleich 1987. 554: MCSN 1941; Scortecci 1935b. 564: Zavattari 1929, 1930, 1934. KUFRAH: 566: MCSN 1834. 575: ZMB 17919–21; Peters 1880, 1881; Werner 1909. “ Cyrenaica ”: BMNH 1954.1.6. 90–97; MZUT R3313; ZMB 10505. “ 150 km South of Tobruk ”: SMF 51823. “ 60 km South of Kapuzzo ”: SMF 51822. “ Butnan ”: Vinciguerra 1927; Zavattari 1929, 1930; Gestro and Vinciguerra 1931. “ Sebkha Ayn al Zarag Dunes ”: Schleich 1987. “ Marmarica ”: Zavattari 1937. “ pressi Oasi di Tanarqa ”: MCSN 4227. LIBYA: SNHM BS N 55783.

( Trapelus mutabilis poppeki ): TRIPOLITANIA: TRIPOLI: 45: ZFMK 20848; Wagner and Böhme 2007; Wagner et al. 2011. FEZZAN: MURZUQ: 327: ZFMK 63678; Wagner et al. 2011.

COMMENTS.— Trapelus mutabilis was previously regarded as having a broad distribution across North Africa from Western Sahara to Egypt ( Le Berre 1989). Wagner and Böhme (2007) described T. schmitzi from Ennedi Mountains of Chad. Subsequently, Wagner et al. (2011) revised the T. mutabilis complex and recognized an apparently endemic Libyan subspecies, T. m. poppeki, until now known only from two specimens from the north and south of western Libya. However, they did not explicitly refer other Libyan material to particular taxa within the T. mutabilis group. Their newly described T. boehmei occurs from Mauritania through Morocco and at least in one locality in northwestern Algeria ( Wagner et al. 2011). Trape et al. (2012) considered that material from Libya and Egypt was referable to T. mutabilis , whereas material from further west, including Algeria, was T. boehmei , however, they did not differentially plot these two taxa on their map. Wagner et al. (2011) left open the possibility that Agama aspera Werner, 1893 , with its type locality in the northeast of the Algerian Sahara, might be a valid species of Trapelus . It is possible that Libyan Trapelus from the west of the country, may be referable to this form. On the other hand, T. mutabilis mutabilis , with its neotype from near Cairo, Egypt, almost certainly is the correct name for Libyan specimens east of the T. m. poppeki sites. However, the two localities from which T. m. poppeki is known are very close to sites for T. m. mutabilis and we think it is likely that a single taxon may extend westwards from Egypt to at least eastern Algeria and that the genetic distance between the two forms is at least partly reflective of the more than 1500 km between the only samples used in the study by Wagner et al. (2011). We here treat Libyan material not explicitly assigned to T. m. poppeki by Wagner et al. (2011) as referable to the nominotypical form and tentatively regard T. m. poppeki as valid pending further study.

IUCN THREAT STATUS.— Not evaluated, but anticipated to be Least Concern.