Open AccessGeographical variation in size in the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (Lagomorpha: Leporidae) in western Europe and North Africa
Author(s) -
SHARPLES COLIN M.,
FA JOHN E.,
BELL DIANA J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1996.tb02153.x
Subject(s) - cline (biology) , subspecies , biology , european rabbit , bergmann's rule , zoology , geographic variation , variation (astronomy) , skull , morphometrics , ecology , univariate , latitude , multivariate statistics , geography , demography , anatomy , population , statistics , physics , mathematics , sociology , astrophysics , geodesy
Craniometric data of nine characters from 260 skulls of Oryctolagus cuniculus from western Europe and northern Africa were gathered to examine phenotypic variation in size, using both univariate and multivariate analyses. Although animals from the northern part of Europe were found to be larger than those from southern Europe, variation in size occurred in a continuous cline. Skull size was positively correlated with latitude and negatively correlated with ambient temperature. On the basis of skull morphology, there is no evidence for separation of O. cuniculus into the two or more subspecies commonly described. Further data, particularly from genetic material, are required to clarify the taxonomic status of the rabbit in Europe.