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Intraspecific variation in the dolphins Lagenorhynchus albirostris and L. acutus (Mammalia: Cetacea) in metrical and non-metrical skull characters, with remarks on occurrence |
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| Authors: | Anna Maria Hill Mikkelsen Anders Lund |
| Affiliation: | Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen ØDenmark;Department of Population Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen ØDenmark |
| Abstract: | Intraspecific multivariate data analyses of 27 metrical and 20 non-metrical characters were performed on skulls of L. albirostris (Gray, 1846) and L. acutus (Gray, 1826) to distinguish between possible populations from the eastern and the western North Atlantic. The results from principal component (PC) analysis and partial least square (PLS) analysis suggest that the skulls of L. albirostris were taken from separate populations, whereas those of L. acutus were not. A difference in the occurrence-patterns of the two species was found, indicating that the degree of intraspecific variation may be linked to the water-depth related distribution. |
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