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Lyciasalamandra atifi (Atıf’s Salamander / Atıf’ın Semenderi)

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Lyciasalamandra atifi (Atıf’s Salamander / Atıf’ın Semenderi)


Lyciasalamandra atifi (Atıf’s Salamander / Atıf’ın Semenderi) [Male / Erkek]  from Akseki, ANTALYA - 25.02.2011.

It is the largest species of the genus with a total length reaching up to 18.1 cm. This terrestrial tailed-amphibian (urodelan) is restricted to the area from Turbelinaz (Dereköy, Alanya) to the vicinity of antique city, Selge (Altinkaya, Serik) located near the Köprülü Kanyon) in Antalya province, Turkey. It ranges from 190 m up to 1300 m asl along with Taurus range of about 110 km. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of Mertensiella lushchani. It has been elevated to species level, and assigned to the genus Lyciasalamandra.

The ground color of the dorsum is dark brown with numerous small, silvery-white spots (that often creates a bit purple colouration in general apperance according to illumination conditions). There are also some small, indistinct blackish speckle-like marks which are generally arranged in two irregular rows on the vertebral line of dorsum as is in Antalya and Bille’s Salamander. Flanks are light gray withvery dense silvery-white spots, usually coalesce each other. Limbs and tail are orange to reddish-brown with dark or silvery-whitespots and shades. There are also black spots on the tail. Belly is uniform yellowish-orange in color.

In having a dark dorsum colouration with numerous small silvery-white spots, Atıf’s salamander resembles some other Turkish salamander species and subspecies (i.e. L. l. luschani, L. l. finikensis and L. flavimembris). However, It differs from L. flavimembris and L. l. luschani with silvery-white flanks (light-transparent in L. flavimembris, yelowish in L. l. luschani) and also differs from L. l. finikensis by its orrange to reddish-brown limb colour (dark brown in L. l. finikensis).

It is found under stones located humid areas of pine forest. Animals are also found in areas of limestone and are also found close to rivers. It is viviparous like all Turkish terrestrial salamanders; the female gives birth to one or two fully metamorphosed young after a long –approx. one year- gestation period.

References:1. Göçmen, B.(Unpub. results). The results of herpetological trips.  2. Başoğlu, M. (1967).On a third form of Mertensiella luschani (Steindachner) (Amphibia, Salamandridae). Ege Üniv. Fen Fak. İlmi Rap. Ser. 44: 1-11. 3.Veith, M., Baran, I., Godmann, O., Kiefer, A., Öz, M. & Tunç, M. R. (2001). A revision of population designation and geographic distribution of the Lycian salamander Mertensiella luschani (Steindachner, 1891). Zool. İn the Mid. East, 22: 67-82. 4.Veith, M. & Steinfartz, S. (2004). When non-monophyly results in taxonomic consequences – the case Mertensiella within the Salamandridae (Amphibia: Urodela). Salamandra, 40 (1): 67-80. 5. Veith, M., Lipscher, E., Öz, M., Kiefer, A., Baran, I., Polymeni, M. R. & Steinfartz, S. (2008).Cracking the nut: Geographical adjacency of sister taxa supports vicariance in a polytomic salamander clade in the absence of node support. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47 (2008) 916–931. 7. Budak, A. & Göçmen, B. (2005). Herpetology. Ege Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi Kitaplar Serisi, No. 194, Ege Üniversitesi Basimevi, Bornova-Izmir, 226 pp. [2nd Edition, 2008]. 8. Franzen, M., Bußmann, M., Kordges, T. & Thiesmeier, B. (2008). Die Amphibien und Reptilien der Südwest-Turkei. Supplement der Zeitschrift für Feldherpetologie 14, Laurenti Verlag, Bielefeld, Germany, 328 pp.

Author Bayram GÖÇMEN
Created on Friday 25 February 2011
Posted on Sunday 06 March 2011
Tags Antalya, TURKEY / TÜRKİYE
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