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Variability of skull and dental characteristics in Mus spicilegus from the northern border of its distributional range

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Abstract

Results of morphometric analysis of the mound-building mouse (Mus spicilegus) evaluated in this study originate from field trapping in the eastern part of Slovakia during the years 2003–2008. Twenty-four cranial and dental variables and the zygomatic index (A/B) of 80 skulls (43 males, 37 females) were measured and evaluated with respect to the sex of the mice. Despite the fact that the overlap of skull measurements in adult males and females was high, sexual dimorphism was confirmed for several skull and dental traits. On average, the values for adult females of M. spicilegus were higher than males, with the exception of dental traits and the zygomatic index. Significant differences between adult males and females were found for the mean values of ten skull and dental parameters (LB, LCb, FL, LD, LMd, LaZ, LM1, LM1, LaM1 and LaM1). The values for the zygomatic index (A/B) overlapped between both sexes, but the higher average values in adult males were statistically significant. The results showed that the variability of the species confirmed in this paper was probably caused only at the regional level and did not differ from the findings reported by several authors for species from neighboring countries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, P. J. Šafárik University, SK-04001, Košice, Slovakia

    Alexander Čanády & Lucia Uličná

  2. Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Science, SK-04001, Košice, Slovakia

    Ladislav Mošanský

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  1. Alexander Čanády
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  2. Ladislav Mošanský
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  3. Lucia Uličná
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Correspondence to Alexander Čanády.

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Čanády, A., Mošanský, L. & Uličná, L. Variability of skull and dental characteristics in Mus spicilegus from the northern border of its distributional range. Biologia 69, 1425–1430 (2014). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-014-0442-0

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