Age and Body Size of the Endemic and Critically Endangered Frog Species (Baran and Atatür, 1986) in Türkiye.

This study used skeletochronology to assess the relationships between age and body length among individuals in a population of the Tavas Frog (), located in the Çakıroluk plateau, Tavas district, Denizli province. The age varied from 3 to 12 years in both adult males and females. The age was 2 years in two subadult males, while it was 1 year in one juvenile specimen.

Metal accumulation in juvenile and sub-adult loggerhead and green turtles in northern Cyprus.

Sea turtles are considered pollution bioindicators due to their tendency to accumulate high metal levels in their tissues during their long lifespans. In this context, we aimed to analyse the concentrations of 12 elements in liver, kidney, heart and muscle samples from green turtles (Chelonia mydas; n = 41) and loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta; n = 14) found stranded in Northern Cyprus. The samples were collected between 2019 and 2021, stored in sterile Eppendorf tubes at -20 °C until metal analysis, and analysed with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer.

Skeletal description of Pelophylax caralitanus (Anura: Ranidae): Comparison with other ranids.

A description of the skeletal development of ranids is scarce despite being well known in the family Ranidae. Herein, the description of several species of two genera representing the family Ranidae from Turkey is studied wherein the larval and adult cranial skeletons of Pelophylax caralitanus are described and compared with that of the water frog (Pelophylax bedriagae) and mountain frog (Rana macrocnemis). The data are based on cleared and double-stained specimens of 20 Gosner developmental Stages (26-46).

Sex-related differences in aging rate are associated with sex chromosome system in amphibians.

Sex-related differences in mortality are widespread in the animal kingdom. Although studies have shown that sex determination systems might drive lifespan evolution, sex chromosome influence on aging rates have not been investigated so far, likely due to an apparent lack of demographic data from clades including both XY (with heterogametic males) and ZW (heterogametic females) systems. Taking advantage of a unique collection of capture-recapture datasets in amphibians, a vertebrate group where XY and ZW systems have repeatedly evolved over the past 200 million years, we examined whether sex heterogamy can predict sex differences in aging rates and lifespans.

A biphasic navigational strategy in loggerhead sea turtles.

The homing journeys of nine loggerhead turtles translocated from their nesting beach to offshore release sites, were reconstructed through Argos and GPS telemetry while their water-related orientation was simultaneously recorded at high temporal resolution by multi-sensor data loggers featuring a three-axis magnetic sensor. All turtles managed to return to the nesting beach area, although with indirect routes encompassing an initial straight leg not precisely oriented towards home, and a successive homebound segment carried out along the coast. Logger data revealed that, after an initial period of disorientation, turtles were able to precisely maintain a consistent direction for several hours while moving in the open sea, even during night-time.

Investigation of the behavioral and neurochemical effects of monosodium glutamate on neonatal rats.

Background/aim: The objective of this study was to investigate and analyze the behavioral and neurochemical effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG) injections at various and subsequent dosages on male Wistar rats during the neonatal period.

Materials And Methods: In order to determine the behavioral and neurochemical effects of MSG, the experiment was implemented on neonatal male Wistar rats and the test was repeated for various MSG dosages. After completing the experiment, additionally, levels of dopamine, GABA, catecholamine (dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline) and glutamate in the brain cells of the decapitated rats were also measured using the ELISA method.

Some water chemistry parameters of breeding habitats of the Caucasian salamander, Mertensiella caucasica in the Western Lesser Caucasus.

Selection of breeding habitat plays a fundamental role in the reproductive success of urodeles and anurans. We studied the influence of water chemistry variables on the selection of a specific water resource as breeding habitat in Mertensiella caucasica. To determine the influence of water chemistry parameters on their habitat selection, we surveyed a total of 45 small river, streams and brooks in the Western Lesser Caucasus (northeastern Turkey and southwestern Georgia).

Sex ratio estimations of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings by histological examination and nest temperatures at Fethiye beach, Turkey.

Hatchling sex ratios in the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) were estimated by placing electronic temperature recorders in 21 nests at Fethiye beach during 2000-2002. Over the seasons, the mean temperature in the middle third of the incubation period ranged from 26.7 to 32.