EN
Out of 1154 marked common dormice Muscardinus avellanarius (Linnaeus, 1758), 219 animals (19.0%) had white tail tips at Vilkaraistis forest (Moletai district, east Lithuania) in 1984-1993. The extent of white tail-tip varied from a slight tuft to a notable 22 mm length of white hair in the tail tip. In this population white-tipped individuals represented, on average, 25.7% among juvenile females, 24.9% among adult females, 13.4% among juvenile males, and 15.7% among adult males. White-tipped females were significantly more frequent than males, both in juveniles and in adults. The share of white-tipped dormice fluctuated in different years from 12.5% to 25.6% among adult dormice, and from 9.2% to 28.3% among juveniles. The percentage of white-tipped dormice among juveniles in different years was directly proportional to population density in autumn. There was no clear difference or trend in the mortality rate in white-tipped versus normal dormice. The contribution of white-tipped females to population reproduction was relatively lower than that of normal females: only 18.4% out of all registered breeding cases (n = 212) were due to white-tipped females.