Anadolu Yarımadası’ndan İki Semender Türünün (Ommatotriton ophryticus & Triturus ivanbureschi) Olağandışı Kış Aktivitesi Gözlemleri

Abstract

Interactions between the internal regulation and the environment drive the biophysiological patterns of amphibians. It is well known phenomenon that newts in the northern hemisphere are tend to have hibernation strategies in winter seasons. However, the winter activity record for newts is quite rare. Therefore, we would like to report two winter activity cases from Anatolia, Turkey via two newt species: The northern banded newt (Ommatotriton ophryticus) from Ordu and Balkan crested newt (Triturus ivanbureschi) from Çanakkale. The striking outcomes of this study are that the Northern Banded Newt demonstrates winter activity from another locality apart from Trabzon, and the Balkan Crested Newt has been observed in winter for the first time in its natural habitat. However, it is more important that to document these winter activities are remarkable to provide valuable preliminary data for interpreting the global climate change dynamics in local cases.