Patterns of geographic variation in the skull of Nearctic Ermine ( Mustela erminea )
A. H. Macpherson suggested that much of the current geographic diversity in species and species groups of arctic mammals resulted from isolation in glacial refugia during the Wisconsin glacial stage. The present study evaluates this refugium hypothesis using a statistical assessment of geographic va...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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1990
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z90-185 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z90-185 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z90-185 2023-12-17T10:26:08+01:00 Patterns of geographic variation in the skull of Nearctic Ermine ( Mustela erminea ) Eger, Judith L. 1990 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z90-185 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z90-185 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 68, issue 6, page 1241-1249 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 1990 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z90-185 2023-11-19T13:38:40Z A. H. Macpherson suggested that much of the current geographic diversity in species and species groups of arctic mammals resulted from isolation in glacial refugia during the Wisconsin glacial stage. The present study evaluates this refugium hypothesis using a statistical assessment of geographic variation in 13 craniometric characters of Nearctic Mustela erminea. There is significant geographic variation among samples of North American ermine. Most of the skull character variance in this species reflects differences in size and is clinal. Variation in skull size is better explained by temperature and precipitation variables than by geographic distance, suggesting that environmentally ordered selection for size has been superimposed on any size differentiation that occurred during isolation in refugia. Variation in skull shape shows a relatively low correlation with climatic variables, and partitioning tests on shape variation reveal discontinuities consistent with the refugium hypothesis. Distinctive groups of samples reflect possible refugial populations in Eastern Beringia, in periglacial refugia south of the Wisconsin ice in eastern North America, and in one or more western North American refugia. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ermine Mustela erminea Beringia Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Arctic Macpherson ENVELOPE(155.833,155.833,-82.483,-82.483) Canadian Journal of Zoology 68 6 1241 1249 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Eger, Judith L. Patterns of geographic variation in the skull of Nearctic Ermine ( Mustela erminea ) |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
A. H. Macpherson suggested that much of the current geographic diversity in species and species groups of arctic mammals resulted from isolation in glacial refugia during the Wisconsin glacial stage. The present study evaluates this refugium hypothesis using a statistical assessment of geographic variation in 13 craniometric characters of Nearctic Mustela erminea. There is significant geographic variation among samples of North American ermine. Most of the skull character variance in this species reflects differences in size and is clinal. Variation in skull size is better explained by temperature and precipitation variables than by geographic distance, suggesting that environmentally ordered selection for size has been superimposed on any size differentiation that occurred during isolation in refugia. Variation in skull shape shows a relatively low correlation with climatic variables, and partitioning tests on shape variation reveal discontinuities consistent with the refugium hypothesis. Distinctive groups of samples reflect possible refugial populations in Eastern Beringia, in periglacial refugia south of the Wisconsin ice in eastern North America, and in one or more western North American refugia. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eger, Judith L. |
author_facet |
Eger, Judith L. |
author_sort |
Eger, Judith L. |
title |
Patterns of geographic variation in the skull of Nearctic Ermine ( Mustela erminea ) |
title_short |
Patterns of geographic variation in the skull of Nearctic Ermine ( Mustela erminea ) |
title_full |
Patterns of geographic variation in the skull of Nearctic Ermine ( Mustela erminea ) |
title_fullStr |
Patterns of geographic variation in the skull of Nearctic Ermine ( Mustela erminea ) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterns of geographic variation in the skull of Nearctic Ermine ( Mustela erminea ) |
title_sort |
patterns of geographic variation in the skull of nearctic ermine ( mustela erminea ) |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1990 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z90-185 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z90-185 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(155.833,155.833,-82.483,-82.483) |
geographic |
Arctic Macpherson |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Macpherson |
genre |
Arctic Ermine Mustela erminea Beringia |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ermine Mustela erminea Beringia |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 68, issue 6, page 1241-1249 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z90-185 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
68 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
1241 |
op_container_end_page |
1249 |
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1785577843519913984 |