Bilal Kutrup

Age structure in two populations of Triturus vittatus ophryticus at different altitudes

We investigated age structure by skeletochronology in two breeding populations of Triturus vittatus ophryticus inhabiting altitudes ranging from 300 m (in Gurbulak) to 1300 m (in Hidirnebi) in northeastern Turkey. The mean age was 4 years (maximum 10) in Gurbulak population and 8 (maximum 16) in Hidirnebi population. In the lowland population, minimum age at maturation was two to three years while it was four years in the highland population. The mean snout-vent length of the populations was significantly different and we found no correlation between age and snout-vent length except for females of Gurbulak. Sexual dimorphism in body size and weight was detected in both populations.

Intraspecific variation of Bufo bufo , based on 16S Ribosomal RNA sequences

More than half of the species within the family Bufonidae are contained within the genus Bufo. The 450 species of this genus are distributed throughout most major land masses of the world, including the Americas, Eurasia, Africa and excluding Australo-Papuan Realm and Madagascar (Frost, 2002). Because of their cosmopolitan distribution and variable life histories, these toads are of interest to investigators researching evolutionary history and biogeography (Pramuk et al., 2001). The Common toad Bufo bufo is a wideranging species, with a distribution encompassing much of Europe (except in northern Scandinavia), parts of northern Africa and western Asia (Luscher et al., 2001). Three subspecies are recognised: B. b. gredosicola from central Spain, B. b. spinosus from the Mediterranean region including southern Spain, southern France, southern Switzerland, Italy, several southeastern countries and northern Africa, and B. b. bufo from the other parts of Europe, including the north of the Swiss Alps (Luscher et al., 2001). The taxonomic status of Bufo bufo in Turkey is still disputed. It is believed to be represented by 3 subspecies. Bodenheimer (1944) identified

Body size and age structure of Pelophylax ridibundus populations from two different altitudes in Turkey

We estimated differences in body size and age structure of two populations of Pelophylax ridibundus living at different altitudes in Turkey, one from Dortyol (6 m a.s.l.) and the other from Karagol (1480 m a.s.l.). Their age structure was determined by skeletochronology performed on the LAGs (lines of arrested growth) of the phalanges. While ages ranged from 2 to 8 years for males and from 2 to 7 years for females in Karagol, in Dortyol the ages ranged from 4 to 11 years for males, and 3 to 7 years for females. Sexual size dimorphism was only found in the Dortyol population. Larger females tend to be found in hotter climates (Dortyol) but reach maturity later (3-4 years) than the highland population (2 years). A significant relationship between age and snout-vent length (SVL) was found for both sexes and populations with the exception of females in Dortyol.

Taxonomic relationships among Turkish water frogs as revealed by phylogenetic analyses using mtDNA gene sequences.

We assessed taxonomic relationships among Turkish water frogs through estimation of phylogenetic relationships among 62 adult specimens from 44 distinct populations inhabiting seven main geographical regions of Turkey using 2897 bp sequences of the mitochondrial Cytb, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes with equally-weighted parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian methods of inference. Monophyletic clade (Clade A) of the northwesternmost (Thrace) samples is identified as Pelophylax ridibundus. The other clade (Clade B) consisted of two monophyletic subclades. One of these contains specimens from southernmost populations that are regarded as an unnamed species. The other subclade consists of two lineages, of which one corresponds to P. caralitanus and another to P. bedriagae. Taxonomic relationships of these two species are discussed and recognition of P. caralitanus as a subspecies of P. bedriagae is proposed.

A skeletochronological study of age, growth and longevity of Rana macrocnemis populations from four locations at different altitudes in Turkey

We examined life-history traits such as population age structure, growth and longevity of Iranian Long-Legged frogs (Rana macrocnemis) from 4 different locations at different altitudes in Turkey by skeletochronology performed on the phalanges. The maximum lifespan was 5 years in Macka (350 m a.s.l.), 6 years in Hodornebi (1430 m a.s.l.), 8 years in Sarokamo¸ s (2276 m a.s.l.) and 10 years in Ovit (2850 m a.s.l.). Age at sexual maturity of both males and females was 2-3 years in the Macka, Hodornebi and Sarokamo¸ s populations, while 3-4 years for males and 3-5 years for females in the Ovit population. In all populations, males and females did not exhibit any differences in terms of mean age and SVL except for Sarokamo¸ s where the males were significantly larger than the females. A positive correlation was observed between age and SVL for both sexes in all populations except for the males of the Macka population.

Effects of the ecological conditions on morphological variations of the green toad, Bufo viridis , in Turkey

Ten populations of the green toad, Bufo viridis, from three areas having different climatic regimes were compared. Multivariate analyses of morphological characteristics revealed three distinct populations of green toads: the first group inhabiting the lowland and humid localities was characterized by a small body size, the second group occurred at higher altitudes and in desert areas had a significantly larger body size, while the third group from the Mediterranean localities was characterized by a large tympanum, a longer tarsus and short first toes. Interestingly, the specimens from Giresun Island were clustered with the second group with a similar pattern of body size. Differences in the morphological characteristics among populations were positively associated with ecological conditions, and not with geographic distance. Some characteristics previously used for taxonomic purposes in B. viridis were shown to be associated with local climatic conditions.

Patterns of distribution of tree frogs in Turkey based on molecular data

Despite previous work on the phylogeny of Palearctic Hyla, several problems still exist regarding systematics of Hyla in Turkey. The systematics of tree frogs (Hyla orientalis and Hyla savignyi) in Turkey was studied using combined mitochondrial genes (12S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome b) and a nuclear gene (H3), and sampling a total of 102 individuals from 51 localities. We find that Hyla orientalis is represented by a single lineage, whereas Hyla savignyi was divided into two lineages by the mitochondrial genes, but not the nuclear gene. We also confirm that Hyla arborea schelkownikowi is a junior synonym of Hyla orientalis.

Morphological and genetic variations of Ommatotriton in Turkey

The classification of European newts has fluctuated throughout history based on morphological and genetic discoveries. In this study, specimens of Ommatotriton from Turkey were compared by using morphometrical features and partial mitochondrial sequences data. When we used the TCS program, 15 haplotypes were found for a 541 bp fragment of the 16S rRNA gene in 118 specimens, while 25 haplotypes were found for a 398 bp fragment of the cytb gene in 112 specimens. The sequence divergence of 16S rRNA gene ranged from 0.18% to 5.70% while for cytb gene it ranged from 0.25% to 12.84%. Combined sequences showed that newts collected in three distinct geographical areas of Turkey (Southern Anatolia, Western Black Sea and Eastern Black Sea) form four distinct lineages (Hatay, Adana-Mersin, Western Black Sea and Eastern Black Sea). A total of 195 adult specimens (94 males and 101 females) from 20 different populations belonging to the three distinct geographic areas were used in the morphometrical comparisons. Canonical Variate Analysis demonstrated that the four groups were successfully separated and formed geographically homogeneous groups in the canonical space. As a conclusion, our molecular data suggest that individuals from Western Black Sea are not conspecific with Eastern Black Sea ones and they could represent a good species (Ommatotriton nesterovi). Finally, we suggest that three distinct species, O. nesterovi, O. ophryticus and O. vittatus should be recognised as banded newts of Turkey.

On new specimens of Vipera barani Böhme & Joger, 1983, from northeastern Anatolia, and implications for the validity of Vipera pontica Billing, Nilson & Sattler, 1990 (Reptilia, Viperidae)

Abstract Two females of the viper Vipera barani which is only known from a few specimens are recorded from Trabzon province, Turkey, and are described here. The variability of pholidosis and the dorsal pattern now known in V. barani encompasses most diagnostic characters of Vipera pontica, which was described from Artvin. It is assumed that both taxa belong to a single species whose range extends over the entire mountain range along the Turkish Black Sea coast.

Molecular systematics and phylogeography of Bufotes variabilis (syn. Pseudepidalea variabilis) (Pallas, 1769) in Turkey

Nurhayat ÖZDEMİR, Serkan GÜL*, Nikolay A. POYARKOV JR., Bilal KUTRUP, Murat TOSUNOĞLU, Stefano DOGLIO Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey Roman Society of Natural Sciences (SRSN), Rome, Italy