Sexual size monomorphism and body variation in the fat dormouse Glis glis in Slovakia
-
Alexander Čanády
,
Ladislav Mošanský
Abstract
Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) of the fat dormouse Glis glis was evaluated on five somatic variables (head-and-body length, tail length, hind foot length, ear length and body weight) in 40 specimens. The overlap of values of the measured traits between the sexes was high, and females seemed to exhibit slightly higher mean values than males. However, these differences were non-significant, and together with the results of discriminant function analysis they supported monomorphism in the evaluated species. Positive correlation analyses, together with PCA values, confirmed that tail length and hind foot length are traits which play a significant role in overall variability. We speculated that this relationship could explain their mutual importance in locomotion in the three-dimensional space of tree canopies. Our results suggest that the non-significant results regarding SSD provide the benefit of the same size for both sexes in inter- and intra-sexual interaction and may be connected with passive mate-guarding.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Mr. David McLean for linguistic revision of the manuscript. Our thanks also include Mr. Tomáš Jászay, a head of the Natural History Department of the Šariš Museum Bardejov, Slovakia, for access to the collections and for general help. Finally, we would like to thank two anonymous referees for their valuable comments on the manuscript. This work was prepared with the financial help of grant no. VEGA 2/0060/14, 2/0059/15, APVV – 14-0274, KEGA 012UPJŠ-4/2014 and by the project of Research & Development Operational Programme funded by the ERDF (code ITMS: 26220120022) (0.4).
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©2016 Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences
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Articles in the same Issue
- Synthesis of multifunctional γ-PGA-based superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging and controlled drug release
- Organic solvent stable protease isolation and characterization from organic solvent tolerant strain of Lysinibacillus sphaericus PAP02
- The impact of grazing absence in inland saline vegetation – a case study from Slovakia
- How dose of biochar and biochar with nitrogen can improve the parameters of soil organic matter and soil structure?
- Water repellent effects of manure amended soils on organic matter decomposition, C retention, and respired CO2-C
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- ASL16 gene, a member of AS2/LOB family, is essential for lateral root formation in Arabidopsis
- Meiobenthic Assemblages from the Southwestern Coast of the Black Sea, İğneada (Turkey)
- Oviposition by selected water mite (Hydrachnidia) species from Lake Skadar and its catchment
- Parasitic mesostigmatid mites (Acari) – common inhabitants of the nest boxes of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in a Polish urban habitat
- Mayfly (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) assemblages of a regulated perennial Mediterranean river system in the Western Balkans
- Distribution and ecology of the flightless bush-cricket Poecilimon schmidtii at its northern range margin
- Sexual size monomorphism and body variation in the fat dormouse Glis glis in Slovakia
