Cox, PG;
Morris, PJR;
Hennekam, JJ;
Kitchener, AC;
(2020)
Morphological and functional variation between isolated populations of British red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris).
Journal of Zoology
, 312
(4)
pp. 271-283.
10.1111/jzo.12829.
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Abstract
Isolation due to habitat fragmentation can lead to morphological and functional variation between populations, with the effect being well documented in rodents. Here, we investigated whether such morphological variation could be identified between British populations of the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). This species was once widespread across Great Britain, but suffered a severe population decline across the 20th century, leaving a highly fragmented distribution. The aim was to test for morphological and biomechanical variation of the mandible between the remaining British red squirrel populations, and between British and continental European red squirrels. Linear and geometric morphometric methods were used to analyse shape in a sample of over 250 red squirrel hemi-mandibles from across Britain plus a sample from Germany representing the central European subspecies. Procrustes ANOVA identified significant shape variation between populations, with particularly distinct differences being noted between red squirrels from Germany and several British red squirrel populations, which may reflect their evolutionary history. Linear biomechanical measurements showed that the red squirrels from Formby and Jersey had a significantly lower mechanical advantage of the temporalis muscle than other British populations, suggesting they were less efficient at gnawing. This functional difference may be related to many factors, such as founder effect, potential inbreeding and/or past supplemental feeding with less mechanically resistant food items.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Morphological and functional variation between isolated populations of British red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/jzo.12829 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12829 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Zoology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Zoological Society of London This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | skull morphology, masticatory biomechanics, mechanical advantage, geometric morphometrics, Sciuridae, Sciurus vulgaris, isolated populations |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10156718 |
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