26. Libyan Jird, Meriones (Pallasiomys) libycus Lichtenstein, 1823

(IUCN Red List: LC)

Subspecies: M. l. erythrourus (Gray, 1842) and M. l. syrius Thomas, 1919 .

Distribution: Common with a wide range; restricted to arid and semi-arid areas (Fig. 32).

Previous records: Deir ez-Zor (Aharoni 1932), vicinity of Tall Abiad (Misonne 1957), Al-Qaryatein, Khan Abou Chamate, and the vicinity of Palmyra (Harrison 1972), Talila Reserve to the northeast of Palmyra (Habibi 1998), ar- Rasafah (Shehab et al. 2004), 90 km east of Damascus along the highway to Palmyra, south of an-Nasiriyah, and Mhassa near Al-Qaryatein (Mamkhair et al. 2007), vicinity of Palmyra (Serra 2002; Serra et al. 2009a, b), and Dumair (Shehab et al. 2018).

Remarks: Meriones l. erythrourus (Gray, 1842) is reported from the eastern parts of the Euphrates Valley; M. l. syrius Thomas, 1919, which was first described from Al-Qaryatein (Harrison & Bates1991), is confined to the western parts of the Euphrates Valley. However, based on the phylogeographic study carried out by Dianat et al. (2019), only M. l. syrius occurs in Syria.