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Factors of Polymorphism of Craniometric Characters in the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes, Carnivora, Canidae) from the Center of European Russia

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Abstract

Craniometry was investigated in four samples of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes L. 1758) (n = 403) from Tver oblast. Factors affecting the metric polymorphism of the fox skull can be presented in the following order according to their significance: age, sex, geographic, and chronographic variability. The geographic and chronographic factors are correlated with the jaws and teeth. An analysis of the time interval from the early 1990s to the present shows a weak trend toward an increase in some cranial structures. However, the inclusion of material from the 1980s reveals a more complex trend in the chronographic variability with size fluctuations. This may be due to the high rate of mortality which determines the stochastic nature of the chronographic size variability. The spatial variability of odontological and craniometric characters can be of adaptive functional significance.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to A.V. Markovkina who participated in the processing of the collection material and the reviewers whose observations allowed us to summarize better our results.

Funding

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Government of Tver oblast (project no. 14-04-97510 r_tsentr_а).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Velikie Luki State Agricultural Academy, 182112, Velikie Luki, Pskov oblast, Russia

    N. P. Korablev & V. A. Zhagarayte

  2. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    M. P. Korablev

  3. Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 197022, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. P. Korablev

  4. Central Forest State Nature Biosphere Reserve, 172513 , Zapovednyi, Tver oblast, Russia

    M. P. Korablev & P. N. Korablev

  5. Tver State University, 170100, Tver, Russia

    A. V. Zinoviev

  6. Zhitkov All-Russia Research Institute of Game Management and Animal Breeding, Russian Academy of Sciences, 610000, Kirov, Russia

    I. L. Tumanov

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  1. N. P. Korablev
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Correspondence to N. P. Korablev.

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Translated by N. Smolina

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Korablev, N.P., Korablev, M.P., Korablev, A.P. et al. Factors of Polymorphism of Craniometric Characters in the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes, Carnivora, Canidae) from the Center of European Russia. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 46, 946–959 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359019080053

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