Abstract

MANCINA, Carlos A.  and  BALSEIRO, Fernando. Shape variation of the mandible in Monophyllus redmani (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae): geometric analysis of sexual and geographic variation. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2010, vol.17, n.1, pp.87-95. ISSN 0327-9383.

We analyzed sexual and geographic variation in the mandible of Monophyllus redmani using two-dimensional landmark data. Differences in size and shape of mandible were examined using 10 landmarks plotted on lateral view of 69 individuals. The region, sex, and interaction effects were analyzed with a two-way MANOVA on the shape variables (weight matrix) that include the set of partial warps and uniform components. Our results revealed a significant sexual dimorphism in the mandible shape; the ascending and horizontal rami of the males were significantly wider than females. We found overlapping in shape among geographic regions, although the Isla de la Juventud sample slightly differed in centroid size and shape from some Cuban samples. Probable factors that could determine this sexual shape dimorphism are discussed.

Keywords : Chiroptera; Cuba; Geometric morphometric; Mandible; Monophyllus redmani.

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