Mehmet KürÅŸat Åžahin PhD
Zoologist
Welcome!
I am a herpetologist and have an intense enthusiasm for the key biodiversity elements of Anatolian and Caucasus regions, particularly amphibians and reptiles. I currently work as an assistant professor at the Hacettepe University. After I finished my PhD, my interest in undiscovered herptile populations in these regions has been getting higher before they will become extinct. #yokolmadankeÅŸfet
Research Interests
I am interested in different ways animal morphology, physiology and natural history become adapted to their environments in terms of biotic and abiotic interaction dynamics.
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Natural and/or life history patterns, physiology and morphological variation within and between species at different spatio-temporal scales, and comparisons of these patterns motivate me to stay tuned to understand the driving mechanisms of ecological and evolutionary aspects of faunistic biodiversity elements.
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I especially focus on herptile species as model organisms and try to understand how these animals respond to environmental variation, especially thermal and climatic interactions.
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On the other hand, to introduce undiscovered populations to the herpetological society makes me so motivated.
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Multi-focus approach is required to study the phenomena of these interests: Phylogenomics, Population Genetics, Thermal Biology, Ecological Niche Modelling, Morphometry, Conservation Biology, Biodiversity Indices. Therefore, each study is carried out with specific specialist colleagues.
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Publications
Åžahin, M. K., Kuyucu, A. C., 2021. Thermal biology of two sympatric Lacertids lizards (Lacerta diplochondrodes and Parvilacerta parva) from Western Anatolia, Journal of Thermal Biology, 101, 103094 (pdf)
Kurnaz, M., Åžahin, M.K., EroÄŸlu, A.Ä°. 2022. Hidden diversity in a narrow valley: Description of new endemic Palearctic rock lizard Darevskia (Squamata: Lacertidae) species from northeastern Turkey, Zoological Studies, 61:44 (pdf)
Tarkhnishvili, D., Yanchukov, A., Erdolu, M., Şahin M.K., Candan, K., Murtskhvaladze, M., Gabelaia, M., Iankoshvili, G., Barateli, N., Ilgaz, Ç., Kumlutaş, Y., Matur, F., Çolak, F., Arakelyan, M., Galoyan, E., 2022. Precise paternal ancestry of parthenogenetic Darevskia lizards revealed by ddRAD-seq markers specific to Z-chromosome, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 136: 293-305 (pdf)