Somatometric Characteristics of the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Bulgaria
Grey wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758) is the largest representative of the Canidae family in Bulgaria. It inhabits almost the whole territory, most frequently the mountainous and hilly areas. The grey wolf is a hunting species in the country. Despite this, there is little information in the literatu...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3897/silvabalcanica.25.e121340 https://doaj.org/article/dc0a1534e6ce45bc85325d431bec9e39 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:dc0a1534e6ce45bc85325d431bec9e39 2024-09-09T19:35:33+00:00 Somatometric Characteristics of the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Bulgaria Atidzhe Ahmed Blagoy Koichev Rossen Andreev Ivan Stepanov Peter Savev 2024-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3897/silvabalcanica.25.e121340 https://doaj.org/article/dc0a1534e6ce45bc85325d431bec9e39 EN eng Pensoft Publishers https://silvabalcanica.pensoft.net/article/121340/download/pdf/ https://silvabalcanica.pensoft.net/article/121340/download/xml/ https://silvabalcanica.pensoft.net/article/121340/ https://doaj.org/toc/2815-2549 doi:10.3897/silvabalcanica.25.e121340 2815-2549 https://doaj.org/article/dc0a1534e6ce45bc85325d431bec9e39 Silva Balcanica, Vol 25, Iss 1, Pp 101-107 (2024) carnivora body size sexual dimorphism Forestry SD1-669.5 Animal culture SF1-1100 Plant culture SB1-1110 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3897/silvabalcanica.25.e121340 2024-08-05T17:49:19Z Grey wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758) is the largest representative of the Canidae family in Bulgaria. It inhabits almost the whole territory, most frequently the mountainous and hilly areas. The grey wolf is a hunting species in the country. Despite this, there is little information in the literature on its size. The aim of this work was to provide the first systematized data of the somatometric characteristics (weight – P; total body length – L; length of the body to the base of the tail – Lb; tail length – Lo and height at the withers – Hb) of the grey wolf in Bulgaria and to establish what is the degree of their sexual dimorphism. We found that the adult males are 24.3% heavier than the females (t=4.46; p<0.001). They also have a longer body by 8.8% (t = 3.66; p<0.001) and a greater height by 6.5% (U=546; p=0.005). The smallest difference (6.2%) between the two sexes was observed in tail length (U=629.5; p=0.03). The results of our study support the clear sexual dimorphism established in other wolf populations. Further studies are needed to link the wolf ’s body size data with prey type data in the respective areas for more clarity. This will be beneficial both for better wolf population management and for the accumulation of a database. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Silva Balcanica 25 1 101 107 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
topic |
carnivora body size sexual dimorphism Forestry SD1-669.5 Animal culture SF1-1100 Plant culture SB1-1110 |
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carnivora body size sexual dimorphism Forestry SD1-669.5 Animal culture SF1-1100 Plant culture SB1-1110 Atidzhe Ahmed Blagoy Koichev Rossen Andreev Ivan Stepanov Peter Savev Somatometric Characteristics of the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Bulgaria |
topic_facet |
carnivora body size sexual dimorphism Forestry SD1-669.5 Animal culture SF1-1100 Plant culture SB1-1110 |
description |
Grey wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758) is the largest representative of the Canidae family in Bulgaria. It inhabits almost the whole territory, most frequently the mountainous and hilly areas. The grey wolf is a hunting species in the country. Despite this, there is little information in the literature on its size. The aim of this work was to provide the first systematized data of the somatometric characteristics (weight – P; total body length – L; length of the body to the base of the tail – Lb; tail length – Lo and height at the withers – Hb) of the grey wolf in Bulgaria and to establish what is the degree of their sexual dimorphism. We found that the adult males are 24.3% heavier than the females (t=4.46; p<0.001). They also have a longer body by 8.8% (t = 3.66; p<0.001) and a greater height by 6.5% (U=546; p=0.005). The smallest difference (6.2%) between the two sexes was observed in tail length (U=629.5; p=0.03). The results of our study support the clear sexual dimorphism established in other wolf populations. Further studies are needed to link the wolf ’s body size data with prey type data in the respective areas for more clarity. This will be beneficial both for better wolf population management and for the accumulation of a database. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Atidzhe Ahmed Blagoy Koichev Rossen Andreev Ivan Stepanov Peter Savev |
author_facet |
Atidzhe Ahmed Blagoy Koichev Rossen Andreev Ivan Stepanov Peter Savev |
author_sort |
Atidzhe Ahmed |
title |
Somatometric Characteristics of the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Bulgaria |
title_short |
Somatometric Characteristics of the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Bulgaria |
title_full |
Somatometric Characteristics of the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Bulgaria |
title_fullStr |
Somatometric Characteristics of the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Bulgaria |
title_full_unstemmed |
Somatometric Characteristics of the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) in Bulgaria |
title_sort |
somatometric characteristics of the grey wolf (canis lupus) in bulgaria |
publisher |
Pensoft Publishers |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3897/silvabalcanica.25.e121340 https://doaj.org/article/dc0a1534e6ce45bc85325d431bec9e39 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Silva Balcanica, Vol 25, Iss 1, Pp 101-107 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://silvabalcanica.pensoft.net/article/121340/download/pdf/ https://silvabalcanica.pensoft.net/article/121340/download/xml/ https://silvabalcanica.pensoft.net/article/121340/ https://doaj.org/toc/2815-2549 doi:10.3897/silvabalcanica.25.e121340 2815-2549 https://doaj.org/article/dc0a1534e6ce45bc85325d431bec9e39 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3897/silvabalcanica.25.e121340 |
container_title |
Silva Balcanica |
container_volume |
25 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
101 |
op_container_end_page |
107 |
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1809904931266625536 |