As tracers of star formation , galaxy assembly and mass distribution , globular clusters have provided important clues to our understanding of early-type galaxies .
But their study has been mostly constrained to galaxy groups and clusters where early-type galaxies dominate , leaving the properties of the globular cluster systems ( GCSs ) of isolated ellipticals as a mostly uncharted territory .
We present Gemini-South/GMOS g ^ { \prime } i ^ { \prime } observations of five isolated elliptical galaxies : NGC 3962 , NGC 2865 , IC 4889 , NGC 2271 and NGC 4240 .
Photometry of their GCSs reveals clear color bimodality in three of them , remaining inconclusive for the other two .
All the studied GCSs are rather poor with a mean specific frequency S _ { N } \sim 1.5 , independently of the parent galaxy luminosity .
Considering also previous work , it is clear that bimodality and especially the presence of a significant , even dominant , population of blue clusters occurs at even the most isolated systems , casting doubts on a possible accreted origin of metal-poor clusters as suggested by some models .
Additionally , we discuss the possible existence of ultra-compact dwarfs around the isolated elliptical NGC 3962 .