Northernmost kites?

摘要

The desert-kites have seen their spatial distribution considerably expanded in recent years, thanks to new discoveries. This spatial distribution shows some areas of high density, while the presence of hiatuses exists. Therefore, among these new discoveries, the Aragats kites in Armenia form an isolated aggregate. The comparison of their morphology and their integration in the landscape with other kites, and in particular with those of the Ustyurt Plateau, shows similarities between these two sets. They can clearly be discriminated from those of the whole area of distribution, which, besides, presents a high variability of their morphological characters. From this evidence, the question which arises is that of the existence of a cultural diffusion phenomenon. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.