Comparative morphology of triturus karelinii populations from western and central turkey (amphibia: urodela)

Three different populations of Triturus karelinii from the Aegean region (Bozdağ), eastern Anatolia (Koyulhisar), and the Marmara region (İstanbul) are compared in terms of morphometric measurements and ratios, and features of colouration pattern. The Bozdağ population differs from the Koyulhisar population in eight characters, and from the İstanbul population in ten characters. According to the coefficient of difference, males from Bozdağ differ from Koyulhisar males in three characters, whereas the males from İstanbul differ in two characters. Furthermore, females of the Bozdağ population differ from females from Koyulhisar in three characters, whereas they are different from İstanbul females in two characters. These results show the clear separation of the Bozdağ population from the other two populations. However, in our opinion the Bozdağ population should be re-examined with biochemical methods combined with biological, ecological and behavioural approaches. © 2001 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC