Multivariate analysis of morphometric characters in the Eastern hedgehog Erinaceus concolor from Greece and adjacent areas.

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1996
Authors:Giagia-Athanasopoulou, E. B., Markakis, G.
Journal:Zeitschrift für SäugetierkundeZeitschrift für Säugetierkunde
Volume:61
Pagination:129-139
Keywords:Mammalia
Abstract:

A number of subspecies of the eastern hedgehog Erinaceus concolor has been described in the southern Balkan peninsula. Despite extensive morphological and karyological descriptions, their taxonomic status is still unclear. In the present study we have attempted to identify this status in different populations from mainland and insular Greece and to clarify their relationships to subspecies from adjacent areas. Multivariate analysis of 21 somatic and cranial characters was performed on 191 specimens from Greece, and also on published data (76 from Bulgaria, 21 from Yugoslavia and 9 from Asia Minor). Our analysis showed that throughout the mainland of the southern Balkan peninsula, one large-sized subspecies, E. c. bolkayi, is distributed. Two insular subspecies of smaller body size are found on the Greek islands: E. c. nesiotes on Crete, Kyklades islands and Ionian sea islands and E. c. rhodius in the eastern Aegean sea islands Rhodos, Samos, and Chios. The subspecies E. c. transcaucasicus also appears to occur on the islands of Lesvos and Kos.

Taxonomic name: 
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