Cranial variability in the Eastern hedgehog Erinaceus concolor (Mammalia: Insectivora)

Cranial variability was studied in 307 Eastern hedgehogs Erinaceus concolor Martin, 1838 from central and south‐eastern Europe, the Near East, Middle East, and the Caucasus. The maxillary bone always contacted the nasal bone in European samples, forming a naso‐maxillary suture which was mainly long (>2 mm). In contrast, the suture was usually short (<1–2 mm) in hedgehogs from the Near East and Middle East, and sometimes the maxillary failed to reach the nasal bone. In the latter case, the premaxillary formed a suture with the frontal bone (length = 2.5 mm in extreme cases). Two morphotypes could be distinguished on this basis: the roumanicus morphotype (with a long suture) and the concolor morphotype (with the naso‐maxillary suture short or absent). Discriminant function analysis of nine geographic samples, and based on 14 linear log‐transformed skull measurements, revealed two clusters: one included four European samples of the roumanicus morphotype and the other contained three Asiatic samples of the concolor morphotype. Specimens of the roumanicus morphotype from Asia were classified as having either the concolor or roumanicus morphotype; however, on average their skull morphology suggested closer affinities with the former.