Observation of morphological and some ecological features of Montivipera xanthina (Gray, 1849)(Ophidia: Viperidae) individuals in the laboratory

Montivipera xanthina is distributed in Aegean, Western Mediterranean and Western Central Anatolia. There is no detailed and comprehensive study about this species in Turkey. This species was studied generally in herpetofaunal studies or venom analayzes. M. xanthina is a monotypic species. Populations of this taxon are separeted hipoteticly as north and south in terms of morphological characters, but this datas are not enough for identified as subspecies. In this study, we aimed to research feeding and reproductive behaviours in laboratory conditions of M. xanthina specimens which are collected from Aydın [1 adult (1 ♀ ) and 1 juvenile] and Bayramiç/Çanakkale [5 adult (3♀, 2♂)]. Besides, we compare Çanakkale samples and Aydın samples, which collected in recent years and during the study, as morphologically. We tried to determine protection strategies of this species against to threat which will face in the future.