Nonmetric morphometry of the skull of the harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena , in the western North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific
A total of 456 skulls of harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, from North American institutions were coded for 40 nonmetric characters. Codes for morphs were arrayed in relative rankings, reflecting trends of variation. Chi-squared contingency test, Kruskal – Wallis one-way analysis of variance, ste...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1996
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z96-249 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z96-249 |
| Summary: | A total of 456 skulls of harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, from North American institutions were coded for 40 nonmetric characters. Codes for morphs were arrayed in relative rankings, reflecting trends of variation. Chi-squared contingency test, Kruskal – Wallis one-way analysis of variance, stepwise discriminant analysis (Wilks' method), and jackknife methods were employed in the analyses. The nonmetric cranial characters were not found to be an efficient method to define geographical populations of harbour porpoises. Although differences could be detected by χ 2 analysis, no really significant segregation has developed in nonmetric cranial traits between putative subpopulations of harbour porpoises in the western North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific despite the geographical and reproductive isolation of these continental populations. It might result from the species' shorter history compared with that of the common dolphin, Delphinus delphis. |
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