Abstract
The Indian Jird, Meriones hurrianae, is unusual among the family Gerbillidae in not being from desert or sub-desert habitats, and in its ability to endure cold weather. Therefore, the distribution range of the Indian jird has no overlap with other species of Meriones. The habitat of the Indian jird is increasingly fragmented, so that this species is increasingly under threat. The ecology of this species, as well as its morphology, is poorly known. The present study, using a two-dimensional landmark-based geometric morphometric approach, aims to investigate intraspecific variation in skull shape and size of populations of this species. For this purpose, more than 50 skull specimens coming from different localities along the distribution range of this species were analyzed. The results allow us to reject the hypothesis that there would be no significant difference in skull shape and size. For instance, some specimens, such as those from Bandar Abbas (Iran), show significant shape differences compared with others. Differences were also significant for some size characteristics, e.g. cranium size and length, as well as the size of the auditory bulla. The observed morphological variation is discussed in the context of taxonomy and conservation of the Indian Jirds.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bookstein, F.L., Chernoff, B., Elde, R.L, Humphries, J.M., Smith, G.R., Strauss, R.E., 1985. Morphometrics in Evolutionary Biology, the Geometry of Size and Shape Change with Examples from Fishes. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia Spec.
Bookstein, F.L., 1991. Morphometric Tools for Landmark Data: Geometry and Biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Cardini, A., 2012. Geometric Morphometrics. Article Definition for Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems EOLSS, <http://www.eolss.net>, Accessed (05 October 2015).
Castañeda-Rico, S., León-Paniagua, L., Vázquez-Domínguez, E., Navarro-Sigüenza, A.G., 2014. Evolutionary diversification and speciation in rodents of the Mexican lowlands: the Peromyscus melanophrys species group. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 70, 454–463.
Chakraborty, S., Nameer, P.O., Molur, S., 2008. Meriones hurrianae. In: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Version 2016.1, <www.iucnredlist.org>, Accessed (16 July 2016).
Chaworth-Musters, J.L., Ellerman, J.R., 1947. A revision of the genus Meriones. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 117 (2-3), 478–504.
Chevret, P., Dobigny, G., 2005. Systematics and evolution of the subfamily Gerbillinae (Rodentia, Murinae). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 35 (3), 674–688.
Colangelo, P., Castiglia, R., Franchini, P., Solano, E., 2010. Pattern of shape variation in the eastern African gerbils of the genus Gerbilliscus (Rodentia, Muridae): Environmental correlations and implication for taxonomy and systematics. Mamm. Biol. 75 (4), 302–310.
Darvish, J., 2009. Morphmetric comparison of fourteen species of the genus Meriones illiger, 1811 (Gerbillinae, Rodentia) from asiaand north africa. Iran. J. Anim. Biosyst. (IJAB) 5 (1), 59–77.
Darvish, J., 2011. Morphological comparison of fourteen species of the genus Meriones illiger, 1811 (Gerbillinae, Rodentia), from Asiaand North Africa. Iran. J. Anim. Biosyst. (IJAB) 7 (1), 49–74.
Dianat, M., Darvish, J., Cornette, R., Aliabadian, M., Nicolas, V., 2017. Evolutionary history of the Persian Jird Meriones persicus, based on genetics, species distribution modelling and morphometric data. J. Zoolog. Syst. Evol. Res. 55, 29–45.
Ellerman, J.R., 1947. Notes on some Asiatic rodents in the British museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 117, 256–271.
Ellerman, J.R., 1948. Key to the rodents of South-West Asia in the British museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 118 (3), 765–816.
Hammer, Ø., Harper, D.A.T., Ryan, P.D., 2001. PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontol. Electronica 4(1), <http://palaeo-electronica.org/20011/past/issue101.htm>, Accessed (17 June 2014).
Harley, C.D.G., 2011. Climate change, keystone predation, and biodiversity loss. Science 334 (6059), 1124–1127.
Hood, G.M., 2010. PopTools Version 3.2.3, <http://www.cse.csiro.au/poptools>, Accessed (20 August 2013).
IUCN, 2015. Red List of Threatened Species, <http://www.iucnredlist.org>, Accessed (8 October 2016).
Klingenberg, C.P., Gidaszewski, N.A., 2010. Testing and quantifying phylogenetic signals and homoplasy in morphometric data. Syst. Biol. 59 (3), 245–261.
Klingenberg, C.P., Monteiro, L.R., Leandro, R., 2005. Distances and directions in multidimensional shape spaces: implications for morphometric applications. Syst. Biol. 54 (4), 678–688.
Klingenberg, C.P., 2009. Morphometric integration and modularity in configurations of landmarks: tools for evaluating a priori hypotheses. Evol. Dev. 11 (4), 405–421.
Klingenberg, C.P., 2010. Morpho J: An Integrated Software Package for Geometric Morphometrics, <http://www.flywings.org.uk/MorphoJ_page.htm>, Accessed (02 September 2014).
Kovarovic, K., Aiello, L.C., Cardini, A., Lockwood, C.A., 2011. Discriminant function analyses in archaeology: are classification rates too good to be true? J. Archaeol. Sci. 38, 3006–3018.
Lay, D.M., 1967. A study of the mammals of Iran, resulting from the Street Expedition of 1962-63. Fieldiana Zool. 54, 1–282.
Milosevic-Zlatanovic, S., Tomasevic Kolarov, N., Vukov, T., 2016. Correlation patterns in roe deer cranium: sexual dimorphism across different habitats. J. Zool. 300, 291–304.
Misonne, X., 1959. Analyse Zoogéographique des mammifères de l’Iran. Mem. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat, Bruxelles, pp. 1–157, Belgique: 2nd. Ser. 59.
Misonne, X., 1975. The rodents of the Iranian deserts. In: Prakash, I., Ghosh, P.K. (Eds.), Rodents in Desert Environments. Monograph. Biol., vol. 28. Springer, Netherlands, pp. 47–58.
Musser, G.G., Carleton, M.D., 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531. In: Wilson, D.E, Reeder, D.M. (eds.) Mammal species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.), Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 894-1531.
Osborne, D.J., Helmy, I., 1980. The contemporary land mammals of Egypt (including Sinai). Fieldiana Zool. 5, 1–579, New Series.
Pavlinov, I.Y., 2008. A Review of Phylogeny and Classification of Gerbillinae (Mammalia: Rodentia). Moscow Univ. Publ., Moscow.
Pavlinov, I.Y., Dubrovskiy, Y.A., Rossolimo, O.L., Potapova, E.G., 1990. Gerbils of the World. Nauka, Moscow.
Petter, F., 1959. Evolution du dessin de la surface d’usure des molaires des Gerbillidés. Mammalia 23, 304–315.
Popesko, P., Rajtovà, V., Horàk, J., 2002. Colour atlas of the anatomy of small laboratory animals. Rat, Mouse and Golden Hamster, vol. 2. Saunders Press, Philadelphia.
Pouyaud, L., Sudarto, N., Teugels, G., 2003. The different colour varieties of the Asian arowana Scleropages formosus (Osteoglossidae) are distinct species: morphologic and genetic evidences. Cybium 27 (4), 287–305.
Roberts, T., 1999. Mammals of Pakistan, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, Karachi, pp. 561.
Rohlf, F.J., Slice, D.E., 1990. Extensions of the Procrustes methods forthe optimal superimposition of landmarks. Syst. Zool. 39 (1), 40–59.
Rohlf, F.J., 1996. Morphometric spaces, shape components and the effect of linear transformations. In: Marcus, L.F., Corti, M., Loy, A., Naylor, G., Slice, D.E. (Eds.), Advances in Morphometrics. Plenum, New York, pp. 117–130.
Rohlf, F.J., 1998. TpsSmall, v. 1.11. Ecology & Evolution, SUNYat Stony Brook, State University, USA.
Rohlf, F.J., 2013. Thin-plate Spline Digitize v. 2.17. Ecology & Evolution, SUNY at Stony Brook, State University, USA.
Sneath, P.H.A., Sokal, R.R., 1973. Numerical Taxonomy. W.H Freeman and Company, San Francisco, CA, pp. 230–234.
Tabatabaei Yazdi, F., Adriaens, D., 2011. Patterns of phenotypic skull variation in M. persicus (Rodentia: Muridae) in relation to geoclimatical. Iran. J. Anim. Biosyst. (IJAB) 7 (2), 129–142.
Tabatabaei Yazdi, F., Adriaens, D., 2013. Cranial variation in Meriones tristrami Thomas, 1892 (Mammalia: 1 Rodentia) and its morphological comparison with M. persicus, M. vinogradovi and M. libycus: a geometric morphometric study. J. Zoolog. Syst. Evol. Res. 51 (3), 239–251.
Tabatabaei Yazdi, F., Adriaens, D., Darvish, J., 2012. Geographic pattern of cranial differentiation in the Asian Midday Jird Meriones meridianus (Rodentia: Muridae: Gerbillinae) and its taxonomic implications. J. Zoolog. Syst. Evol. Res. 50 (2), 157–164.
Tabatabaei Yazdi, F., Colangelo, P., Adriaens, D., 2014. Testing a long standing hypothesis on the relation between the auditory bulla size and environmental conditions: a case study in two jird species (Muridae: Meriones libycus and M. crassus). Mammalia 79 (2), 185–200.
Tabatabaei Yazdi, F., 2011. Patterns of Variation in Skull Phenotypes in Meriones (Rodentia: Muridae) from the Iranian Region, in Relation to Species and Environmental-Geographical Diversity, Ph.D Thesis. Gent University, Gent, Belgium.
Zelditch, M.L., Swiderski, D.L., Sheets, H.D., Fink, W.L., 2004. Geometric Morphometrics for Biologists: a Primer. Elsevier Academic Press, London, London.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tabatabaei Yazdi, F. Testing and quantification of cranial shape and size variation within Meriones hurrianae (Rodentia: Gerbillinae): A geometric morphometric approach. Mamm Biol 87, 160–167 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2017.08.004
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2017.08.004