A melanistic Eirenis modestus (Martin, 1838) from the Anatolian mainland: first record outside island populations
CAUCASIANA, cilt.5, ss.139-146, 2026 (Hakemli Dergi)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Kısa Makale
- Cilt numarası: 5
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.3897/caucasiana.5.e204607
- Dergi Adı: CAUCASIANA
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Central & Eastern European Academic Source (CEEAS), Directory of Open Access Journals
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.139-146
- Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Melanism is among the most ecologically significant chromatic anomalies reported in squamates, and yet its evolutionary drivers remain a topic of debate. Two principal hypotheses have been proposed: thermal melanism, which holds that darker individuals heat more rapidly in cool climates, and Gloger's rule, which predicts greater melanin deposition in warm, humid environments. Melanistic individuals of Eirenis modestus are a rarely documented phenomenon given the species' characteristically pale dorsal coloration; to date, every previously published record of this dark morph had come from island populations. Here we report the first mainland record of melanism in E. modestus, based on a single specimen collected on 9 May 2024 near Çağman–Demre, Antalya Province, southwestern Türkiye. The individual exhibited entirely black dorsal coloration from head to tail, with greyish-white ventral scales darkening progressively towards the tail. Pholidotic characters were consistent with those previously documented for the species. The Çağman–Demre locality, like all previously reported sites, is characterised by relatively high humidity and a Mediterranean coastal climate, a pattern more consistent with Gloger's rule than with thermal melanism. Further sampling across the Anatolian mainland and adjacent islands is needed to assess the frequency and geographic distribution of this morph.