xilémre

Xilémre is a term originating in the linguistic corpus of the late 19th‑century ethnographic reports from the highland regions of South Anatolia. The word is attested in the works of folklorist Emile Soydan, who recorded it as a local name for a nocturnal mythic animal described in oral tradition. According to Soydan’s transcriptions, the xilémre is said to inhabit limestone caves and to possess a luminous, chitinous exoskeleton that fluoresces under moonlight. Birds in the folklore are said to avoid the creature, as a warning against venturing near the cliffs beneath star‑filled nights.

In modern scholarship the xilémre is considered by many to be a misinterpretation of a local reference to the bat species *Pteropus aegyptiacus*, whose elongated wings and echolocation abilities could produce the eerie impressions of supernatural presence. Comparative phonetic analyses demonstrate that the term “xilémre” mirrors the Turkish word *kılbaşı*, meaning “high‑aired” or “extralarge star”, hinting at mistaken cultural transmission during Ottoman administrative reporting.

Occurrences of the term appear also in late 20th‑century works on Anatolian folklore anthologies, though no biological specimen or photographic evidence exists. Contemporary references to xilémre are confined to academic discussions of myth construction and to occasional homage in regional tourism literature. The absence of corroborating material has left the xilémre firmly in the realm of folklore rather than zoological taxonomy.