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Morphological variation of the five vole species of the genus Microtus (Mammalia, Rodentia, Arvicolinae) occurring in Greece
Author(s) -
FraguedakisTsolis Stella E.,
Chondropoulos Basil P.,
Stamatopoulos Costas V.,
Giokas Sinos
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2008.00348.x
Subject(s) - biology , intraspecific competition , morphometrics , zoology , microtus , vole , cricetidae , arvicolinae , subgenus , genus , taxonomy (biology) , range (aeronautics) , systematics , ecology , population , materials science , demography , sociology , composite material
Morphometric data for the five vole species of the genus Microtus living in Greece are old, sparse, poor and insufficiently analysed. This work aims to give the first comprehensive morphometric analysis of body and skull inter‐ and intraspecific variation for M. (M.) guentheri , M. (M.) rossiaemeridionalis , M. (Terricola) subterraneus , M. (T.) felteni and M. (T.) thomasi , applying multivariate statistics to 28 linear morphometric variables. It was based on ample material (202 adult individuals) using samples from localities that adequately cover the entire distributional range of each species in Greece. The five species and the two subgenera ( Microtus and Terricola ) were morphometrically clearly distinguished and discriminating variables were revealed. However, morphometrics did not provide robust criteria to infer phylogenetic relations among species. Furthermore, three species, M. (M.) guentheri , M. (M.) rossiaemeridionalis and M. (T.) thomasi , exhibited considerable intraspecific size or shape variation, which was mostly random and not associated with geographical proximity. Comparisons with data in the literature, mainly concerning populations of these species from adjacent areas, indicate that the Greek M. (M.) guentheri , M. (M.) rossiaemeridionalis and M. (T.) thomasi tend to be smaller than their conspecifics, while M. (T.) subterraneus and M. (T.) felteni are about equal in size to their Balkan relatives.