The role of beak shape in octopodid taxonomy
Beak shapes in nine species of Southern Ocean octopodids were measured using seven size-standardized ratios. The results were analysed using principal component analysis and discriminant function analysis and showthat beak shape may be used as a taxonomic character to distinguish between genera, but...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
NISC
2011
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajms/article/view/66395 |
| Summary: | Beak shapes in nine species of Southern Ocean octopodids were measured using seven size-standardized ratios. The results were analysed using principal component analysis and discriminant function analysis and showthat beak shape may be used as a taxonomic character to distinguish between genera, but not between species. Stepwise discriminant function analysis indicated that all seven ratios were required to maximize discrimination between beaks. A phenogram constructed from a matrix of Mahalanobis distances differed from a dendrogram produced from genetic data. This suggests that, although useful for discrimination, beak morphology is probably not suitable for constructing phylogenies. |
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