Spatial variation of sexual dimorphism in the Siberian weasel Mustela sibirica (Mustelidae, Carnivora)

Abramov A.V., Puzachenko A.Yu.

P. 17-28

Spatial variation in sexual size dimorphism was assessed for the Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) across localities in Western, Central and Eastern Siberia. Twenty-three cranial measurements from 192 adult specimens were studied using univariate morphometric and non-metric multidimensional scaling techniques. Males found to be larger than females for all characters. Significant spatial variation in degree of SSD was found. The larger degree of sexual dimorphism was found in M. sibirica from Far East and smaller degree of SSD in samples from Western and Central Siberia. Results were interpreted to support the resource partitioning hypothesis.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.8.1.02

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