33. Steppe Field Mouse, Apodemus (Sylvaemus) witherbyi (Thomas, 1902)

(IUCN Red List: LC)

Distribution: Uncertain status but apparently rare. Recorded from coastal region to Orontes Basin. (Fig. 39)

Previous records: Slenfeh and Kastel Maaf (Lehmann 1965), Kafaria and Jisr ech-Choghur (Shehab et al. 2018).

Remarks: In the past reported as A. sylvaticus, A. hermonensis or A. iconicus (Heptner, 1948; Filippucci et al. 1996) according to skull characters; however, the nomenclature adopted here is based on Kryštufek (2002).