JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES, cilt.50, sa.4, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
The aim of the present study was to obtain information on certain life history traits such as life span and age of sexual maturity of individuals of the species Mediodactylus heterocercus using the method of skeletochronology. A total of 31 specimens (12 males, 19 females) was aged from a population located in G & uuml;zelk & ouml;y (Haliliye, & Scedil;anl & imath;urfa, T & uuml;rkiye). The age of male individuals ranged from 4 to 9 years, while that of females ranged from 3 to 10 years, with mean values of 6.25 +/- 1.60 and 5.21 +/- 1.55 years, respectively. The age of sexual maturity was 3 years for both sexes. The mean age of individuals in the population did not show a statistically significant difference between the sexes. The calculated mean values of snout-vent length (SVL) were 41.90 +/- 4.31 mm (33.53-46.69 mm) for males and 39.16 +/- 5.05 mm (30.18-48.29 mm) for females. It was concluded that the difference in SVL measurements between the sexes was not statistically significant, but a significant relationship between age and SVL was found. The species M. heterocercus does not follow Bergmann's rule with regard to climatic or topographic heterogeneity.