Rousettus aegyptiacus is active throughout the year in Turkey, where its morphology was studied collected from three localities in the south-west. The characteristics of the Turkish population were similar to those of the nominative subspecies. Moderate differences between the sexes were found in tibia length and total body length. The karyotype is 2n= 36, FN= 70, FNa= 66. The X chromosome is a large metacentric/submetacentric, and the Y chromosome is a dot-like acrocentric.
The fauna of Turkey lists the goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) as the only species of the genus Gazella, but older records reported another species of gazelle in Anatolia (either G. dorcas or G. gazella). However, the species status and the distribution of the second gazelle species have never been confirmed, and the species has been regarded as extirpated. We studied the nucleotide differences in a 400 bp region of cytochrome-b gene for Şanlıurfa population and a recently discovered gazelle population in Hatay. A total of 36 sequences were found with 23 variable sites. All individuals from Hatay and the Golan Heights, Israel (G. gazella) revealed an identical monophyletic lineage and the results of phylogenetic analyses suggest that the population in Hatay belongs to G. g. gazella. Şanlıurfa individuals were grouped with Genbank sequences of G. subgutturosa marica, which a recent study has suggested to be a distinct species, G. marica. Our findings have resolved an ongoing debate on the taxonomic status of the Gazella in Turkey and call for the urgent need of improved conservation efforts for the wild gazelles.