91. Sand Cat, Felis margarita Loche, 1858

(Fig. 99)

(IUCN Red List: LC)

Subspecies: F. m. harrisoni Hemmer, Grubb & Groves, 1976 .

Distribution: A nocturnal species widespread in Al-Badia to the south of Deir ez-Zor, but less common southwest to Palmyra and west to Jabal Al-Bishri (Fig. 100).

Previous records:Al-Talila, 25 km southeast of Palmyra (Serra et al. 2007), Deir ez-Zor towards ar- Rasafah (Aidek, 2010, Murdoch & Aidek 2012).

Recent records: Feidhat Ibn Muwyin’e, Khadhra Almay, ad-Dukhoul, Mueayzilah (south of Deir ez-Zor), as-Sarayim and Jabal Al-Bishri (2006–2012).

Remarks: The subspecies F. m. harrisoni Hemmer, Grubb & Groves, 1976 is confined to the arid plains of the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Sinai and Iraq (Harrison & Bates 1991; Kitchener et al. 2017); however, it could be a synonym of F. m. thinobia (Ognev, 1926) (see Burgin et al. 2020).