Road Kills of Bufotes viridis (Laurenti, 1768): A Case Study from Konya Province of Turkey

The present study reports vehicle collisions of Bufotes viridis (The green toad) in Konya province from Turkey. Our study was performed in more than fifty localities on Yunak-Akşehir highway (D-695). The records were taken in a short time; it is important and remarkable to come across a large number of dead individuals of an amphibian species in a short time. Among all recorded mortalities (n= 246), the highest value belonged to subadults (45% of the cases), followed by juveniles (35% of the cases). The lowest rate among the carcasses was belonged to the adult individuals (20% of the cases). There can be many factors that cause the road kills: These factors are grouped according to the literature under the headings of “direct causes”, “indirect causes” and “potential causes” for the road kills. In this study, we evaluated the effects of some factors for Bufotes viridis. In general, all terrestrial and semi-aquatic amphibian species, which populations are located the roadsides, suffer from road kills. Because of this situation, there is a need for both further studies and habitat restorations for amphibians

Ablepharus budaki (Squamata: Scincidae)’nin Türkiye’deki yeni lokalite kaydı

The Budak’s snake-eyed skink (Ablepharus budaki) is recorded from Sütçüler District of Isparta province in Turkey. The metric and meristic characters of the specimens were found similar to the specimens of A. budaki reported in the literature. Surprisingly, the new locality in the present study coincides exactly among to the distribution areas of A. kitaibelii, A. budaki and the mixed clade specified in the literatureBu çalışmada, Budak’ın İnce Kertenkelesi (Ablepharus budaki) Türkiye’nin Isparta ilinin Sütçüler ilçesinde kayıt edildi. Örneklerin metrik ve meristik özellikleri, literatürdeki A. budaki örnekleri ile benzer olarak bulundu. Şaşırtıcı bir şekilde, bu yeni lokalite literatürde A. kitaibelii, A. budaki ve karma klad için belirtilen dağılış alanlarının arasında yer almaktadır

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

Lacerta agilis (Squamata: Lacertidae)’in Türkiye’deki yeni lokalite kaydı

In this study, it was given the locality record of the sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) from Yeşilköy Village, Pazar District of Rize Province of Turkey. This new record revealed the second locality for L. agilis from the eastern Black Sea coast of Anatolia. The metric and meristic features of the adult, subadult and juvenile specimens were compared to the features of the specimens of the species, L. agilis in the literature.Bu çalışmada, Kars kertenkelesi (Lacerta agilis)’in Türkiye’de Rize ilinin Pazar ilçesinin Yeşilköy köyünden lokalite kaydı verilmiştir. Bu yeni kayıt L. agilis türünün Anadolu’nun Doğu Karadeniz kısmındaki ikinci lokalite kaydını oluşturmaktadır. Ergin, yarı ergin ve juvenile bireylerin metric ve meristic özellikleri literatürde L. agilis türünün bireylerinin özellikleriyle karşılaştırılmıştır

Çevrimiçi ortamlarda araştırma toplulukları: Öğretim üyeleri i̇çin bir yol haritası

Çevrimiçi öğrenme uygulamalarının artan bir ivmeyle eğitim ortamlarında kullanılması; çevrimiçi öğrenme ortamlarına yönelik bir teorik çerçevenin geliştirilmesi gereksinimini doğurmuştur. Garrison, Anderson ve Archer’ın (2000) buna yönelik olarak geliştirmiş olduğu Araştırma Topluluğu Modeli son yıllarda, çevrimiçi öğrenmeye yönelen araştırmacıların ve uygulayıcıların dikkatini çekmiştir (Garrison ve Arbaugh, 2007). Türkiye’de de çevrimiçi öğrenme uygulamaları formal ve formal olmayan biçimlerde eğitim hayatımıza girmiş; birçok üniversite, uzaktan eğitim programları, çeşitli sertifika programları ve kitlesel çevrimiçi açık dersler (MOOCs) geliştirmiş ve uygulamaya koymuştur. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türkiye’de çevrimiçi öğrenme uygulamaları gerçekleştiren ve gerçekleştirmeyi düşünen öğretim üyeleri için Araştırma Topluluğu Modeli temelinde bir yol haritası önermektir. Bu yol haritası, Araştırma Topluluğu Modeli’nde yer alan göstergeler kullanılarak, güncel iletişim teknolojileri ile desteklenmiş ve çevrimiçi öğrenme ortamlarında karşılaşılan güncel sorunlar bağlamında yapılandırılmıştır. Öğretim üyelerinin sahip olması gereken ön koşullar ve yeterliklere değinen bu çalışmanın sonunda alana ilişkin öneriler yer almaktadır

The life-history traits in a breeding population of Darevskia valentini from Turkey

We investigated the age structure, body size, longevity and growth in a breeding population of Darevskia valentini inhabiting highland altitude in Balahor, Turkey. According to the skeletochronological analysis (n= 25; 14 ♂♂, 11 ♀♀), the estimated ages ranged from 3 to 9 years (from 4 to 7 in males and from 3 to 9 in females). The maximum life span was 7 years in males and 9 years in females. The age at maturity was found to be 3 years in both sexes. The mean age and SVL were not statistically different between sexes. For both sexes, we found a significant positive correlation between body size and the number of LAGs. The growth coefficient (k) was lower in females (0.30) than in males (0.76) while asymptotic SVL was higher in females (70.06) than in males (60.55). Growth rates were found to be significantly different between both sexes (females grew faster than males). However, a low level of female-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD) was observed in the population

The life-history traits in a breeding population of <em>Darevskia valentini</em> from Turkey

We investigated the age structure, body size, longevity and growth in a breeding population of Darevskia valentini inhabiting highland altitude in Balahor, Turkey. According to the skeletochronological analysis (n= 25; 14 ♂♂, 11 ♀♀), the estimated ages ranged from 3 to 9 years (from 4 to 7 in males and from 3 to 9 in females). The maximum life span was 7 years in males and 9 years in females. The age at maturity was found to be 3 years in both sexes. The mean age and SVL were not statistically different between sexes. For both sexes, we found a significant positive correlation between body size and the number of LAGs. The growth coefficient (k) was lower in females (0.30) than in males (0.76) while asymptotic SVL was higher in females (70.06) than in males (60.55). Growth rates were found to be significantly different between both sexes (females grew faster than males). However, a low level of female-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD) was observed in the population

Body size and age structure of the endangered Clark’s lizard (Darevskia clarkorum) populations from two different altitudes in Turkey

We investigated age structure, body size and longevity in two breeding populations of <i>Darevskia clarkorum </i>inhabiting altitudes ranging from 450 m a.s.l. (Kamilet) to 2250 m a.s.l. (Ba¸syayla) in Turkey by skeletochronology performed on the phalanges. The mean age was found to be 6 years in the Kamilet population and 7 years in the Ba¸syayla population. The maximum life span was 10 years in the lowland population while it was 12 years in the highland population. Age at sexual maturity of both males and females was 1-2 years in the lowland population while it was 2-3 for both sexes in the highland population. Both age and SVL of specimens from the Kamilet population were significantly different between the sexes while age and SVL did not differ significantly between the sexes in Ba¸syayla population. As a conclusion, we observed that the mean age, longevity and age at maturity were increased by altitude while there was a decrease based on the mean SVL in the highland population of <i>D. clarkorum</i>. Our data on body size, longevity and age at sexual maturity may contribute to conservation efforts for this endangered species