HERPETOLOGICA ROMANICA Vol. 8, 2014, pp.1-10 ISSN: 1842-9203 Article No. 141101 ©Romanian Herpetological Society,Cluj-Napoca / Oradea, Romania, 2014 Herpetol. Rom, 8, http://biozoojournals.ro/herprom/herprom.html 2014, Romania The poorly known Anatolian Meadow Viper, Vipera anatolica: new morphological and ecological data. Bayram GÖÇMEN 1* , John MULDER 2 , Mert KARIŞ 1 and M. Anıl OĞUZ 1 1. Zoology Section, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ege University, 35100 Bornova, İzmir, Turkey. 2. Department of Vertebrates, Natural History Museum Rotterdam, the Netherlands. *Corresponding author: B. Göçmen, E-mail: cypriensis@yahoo.com Tel: +90 (232) 311 17 95, Fax: +90 (232) 388 10 36 Abstract. A total of seven specimens (5 males and 2 females) belonging to the poorly known Anatolian Meadow Viper, Vipera anatolica collected during the field trips of the late April and the mid-October 2014 were evaluated taxonomically by describing its pholidotic, metric features and other descriptive characteristics. Some biological and ecological information were also given. Keywords: Vipera anatolica, distribution, habitat, morphology, Turkey. Introduction A new taxon within the Vipera ursinii complex was described by Eiselt & Baran (1970) based on two female snakes collected in 1969 by A. Budak (holotype) and F. Spitzenberger (paratype) in the Cedar Forest Reserve, Çığlıkara Ormanları, near Elmalı, Antalya province. At the time the taxon was given subspecific status and called Vipera ursinii anatolica. Taxonomy of meadow and steppe vipers, viz. the Vipera ursinii complex, has long been debated, as many isolated but morphologically fairly similar taxa exist over a vast area from France in the west until China and Mongolia in the east. Most of the isolated mountain populations have been given specific status. The Anatolian meadow viper was indicated as a full species by Joger et al. (1992) and also considered as such by Nilson & Andrén (2001) in their extensive study on the Vipera ursinii complex. Very few observations were made since 1969. We are aware of the following sightings. A specimen, presumably a male, was found by H. Sigg in 1984 (Billing, 1985 and Sigg, 1987), here referred to as the Sigg specimen. In the personal collection of G. Nilson and C. Andrén at the department of Zoology, University of Göteborg, Sweden (ZIG), there was a fourth specimen, female, depicted in Nilson