Morphometric variations of the skull in the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in Iran

• Autorzy: Khosravi R. , Kaboli M. , Imani J. , Nourani E.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

The Gray Wolf is a wide ranging carnivore in Iran, absent only in the central deserts and Dasht-e Lut. This study was carried out to verify whether, despite their high mobility, individual wolves belonging to different populations show morphological variations in the skull. We collected 48 skulls from various regions of Iran and measured 24 variables on the cranium. These primary variables were then used to generate six indices to examine any variations in the shape of the skulls collected in different regions of the country. Although the largest skulls collected for this study originated in the mountainous regions of the northwest, northeast, and west, principle component analysis (PCA) did not result in a meaningful difference in the size and shape of wolf skulls in different regions of Iran. Our results confirm that the minor morphological variations of the skull in wolves of Iran are not an evidence for the separation of wolf populations in different regions or the existence of various subspecies in the country. This uniformity can be explained by the strong gene flow among populations as well as high mobility of the wolf that facilitates movement of individuals between populations.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

morphometric variation; morphometry; skull; gray wolf; Canis lupus; cranium; carnivore; Iran

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Acta Theriologica
• Rocznik: 2012
• Tom: 57
• Numer: 4
• Opis fizyczny: p.361-369,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Khosravi R.

• Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

autor

Kaboli M.

• Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

autor

Imani J.

• Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

autor

Nourani E.

• Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Bibliografia

• Allendorf FW (1983) Isolation, gene flow and genetic differentiation among populations. In: Schonewald-Cox CM, Chambers SM, MacBryde B, Thomas WL (eds) Genetics and conservation: a reference for managing wild plant and animal populations. Ben jamin/Cummings, New York, pp 51–66
• Darroch JN, Mosimann JE (1985) Canonical and principal component of shape. Biometrika 72:241–252
• Forbes SH, Boyd DK (1997) Genetic structure and migration in native and reintroduced Rocky Mountain wolf populations. Conserv Biol 11:1226–1234
• Gipson PS, Warren BB, Ronald MN, Mech LD (2000) Accuracy and precision of estimating age of gray wolves by tooth wear. J Wildl Manage 64:752–758
• International Wolf Center (2012) Teaching the World about Wolves. [On line] [July 05th 2012]. Available at: URL: http://www.​wolf.​org/​wolves/​learn/​wow/​regions/​Asia/​Iran.​asp
• Khosravi R, Kaboli M, Rezaei, HR, Montazemi SH (2012) Evaluation of genetic variability in Iranian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) and free-ranging dog (C. familliaris) populations using microsatellite markers. J Novin Genetics (in press)
• Klingenberg CP (2009) Morphometric integration and modularity in configurations of landmarks: tools for evaluating a priori hypotheses. Evol Dev 11:405–421
• Klingenberg CP, Mcintyre GS (1998) Geometric morphometrics of developmental instability: analyzing patterns of fluctuating asymmetry with Procrustes methods. Evolution 52:1363–1375
• Mech LD (1970) The wolf: the ecology and behavior of an endangered species. Natural History Press, Doubleday Publ. Co.
• Mech LD, Boitani L (2004) Grey wolf. In: Sillero-Zubiri C, Hoffmann M, Macdonald DW (eds) Status survey and conservation action plan canids: foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs. IUCN, Gland, pp 124–129
• Milenković M (1997) Taxonomic–biogeographic status and ecological/economical significance of the wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758) in Yugoslavia. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Belgrade,Belgrade, Serbia.
• Milenković M, Habijan-Mikes V, Matic R (2006) Cases of spontaneous interbreeding of wolf and domestic dog in the region of southeast Banat (Serbia). Arch Biol Sci 5:225–231
• Milenković M, Joji V, Blagojevi J, Tatovi S, Vujoševi M (2010) Skull variation in Dinaric–Balkan and Carpathian gray wolf populations revealed by geometric morphometric approaches. J Mammal 91:376–386
• Mosimann JE (1987) Multivariate analysis of size and shape: modeling with the Dirichlet distribution. In computer science and statistics: Proc. 19thSymp. On the interface, Philadelphia, pp 1–9
• Nowak RM, Federoff NE (2002) The systematic status of the Italian wolf Canis lupus. Acta Theriol 47:333–338
• Okarma H, Buchalczyk T (1993) Craniometrical characteristics of wolves Canis lupus from Poland. Acta Theriol 38:253–262
• Onar V, Özcan S, Pazvant G (2001) Skull typology of adult male kangal dogs. Anat Histol Embryol 30:41–48
• Onar V, Belli O, Owen PR (2005) Morphometric examination of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) from the Van-Yoncatepe necropolis in eastern Anatolia. Int J Morphol 23(3):253–260
• Paquet PC, Carbyn LN (2003) Gray wolf. In: Feldhamer GA, Thompson BC, Chapman JA (eds) Wild mammals of North America: biology, management, and conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press, pp 482–510.
• Reist JD (1985) An empirical evaluation of several univariate methods that adjust for size variation in morphometric data. Can J Zool 63:1429–1439
• Sykes WH (1831) Catalogue of the Mammalia of Dukun (Deccan); with observations on the habits, etc., and characters of new species. P Zool Soc Lond 1830–1831:99–106
• Thioulouse J, Chessel D, Doledec S, Olivier JM, Goreaud F, Pelissier R (2001) Ecological data analysis: exploratory and Euclidean methods in environmental sciences. http://​pbil.​univ-lyon1.​fr/​ADE-4.
• Wayne RK (1992) Mitochondrial DNA variability of the gray wolf: genetic consequences of population decline and habitat fragmentation. Conserv Biol 6:559–569
• Wozencraft WC (2005) Order carnivora. In: Wilson DE, Reeder DM (eds) Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp 532–628
• Ziaei H (2009) A field guide to the mammals of Iran. Tehran, Iran