http://www.eje.cz the Mediterranean in the south and western part of Anatolia, the Euro-Siberian in the northern part of Turkey and the Irano-Turanian region covering eastern, southeastern and central Anatolia (Zohary, 1973). It has been suggested that this mountain belt creates altitudinal differences on both sides that are associated with different ecological conditions, supporting distinct fl oristic and faunistic elements in Turkey by dividing the Irano-Turanian region into eastern and western parts (Ekim & Güner, 1986; Gür, 2016). T he active tectonic history of the Turkish landmass together with its neighbouring area was accompanied by cyclical changes in climate (Demirsoy, 2002). Recurrent events in the Late Miocene/Pliocene and the following Quaternary fl uctuations greatly infl uenced species and the lineage distribution of many taxa in Turkey (Kaya & Çiplak, 2016). I t is known that during the glacial periods species in the more northern latitudes moved to more suitable habitats in the south, and, conversely, taxa expanded their ranges towards the north when environmental conditions became more favourable (Hewitt, 2000). Likewise, species distributed in northern Europe moved to lower latitudes and survived in southern refugia (Hewitt, 2000). In addition to the Balkans, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Turkey acted as a refuge area in the Western Palearctic, allowing species to escape from the adverse effects of the recurrent