No recent temporal changes in body size of three Danish rodents |
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Authors: | Yoram Yom-Tov Shlomith Yom-Tov Thomas Secher Jensen Hans Baagoe |
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Institution: | 1.Department of Zoology,Tel Aviv University,Tel Aviv,Israel;2.Natural History Museum,Aarhus,Denmark;3.Natural History Museum of Denmark and Zoological Museum,University of Copenhagen,Copenhagen ?,Denmark |
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Abstract: | We used museum collections to study temporal trends of possible changes in skull size, body mass and body length in three
species of rodents in Denmark. Skulls of adult Microtus agrestis, Apodemus flavicollis and Apodemus sylvaticus, collected between 1895 and 2004, 1847 and 2002, and 1895 and 2002, respectively, were measured and data on body mass and
length were taken from the museum registers. Principal component (PC) analysis was used to combine data of the four skull
measurements taken. We tested the relationship of sex, latitude, longitude, month and year of collection to PC1 by a General
Linear Model (GLM). PC1, body length and body mass of M. agrestis significantly increased from west to east. In addition, PC1, body mass and body length of M. agrestis declined from summer (August) through autumn and winter to spring (March), probably due to the decline in food availability
towards winter. None of the other factors examined (sex, latitude and year) were significantly related to body size. PC1 of
A. flavicollis and A. sylvaticus was not significantly related to any of the environmental factors examined. |
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